One of the most difficult jobs of a teacher can be dealing with parents and their certain expectations. In many cases, parents become frustrated with their child’s educator when they realize that their son or daughter is falling behind in school, are having behavior issues, or when they take notice of anything appearing to be problematic. However, what these parents are not realizing is that they might be the reason for their child’s struggles.

Unfortunately, lack of parenting is something that has become very common in today’s society. A repetitive issue that many teachers must face is the lack of parent involvement at home. The behavior that is tolerated at home will be carried directly into the school. In other words, if parents are too lenient about the way their child behaves, it will become a problem that teachers will have to deal with. 

As the daughter of a teacher, I have been familiarized with the products of this issue. One product is behavioral issues. If the student is free to do whatever he or she wants to at home, they will naturally expect to be given this freedom in the classroom. For instance, if a parent doesn’t require their child to do homework and allows them to play on their phone instead, the child will have no desire to get work done while at school under the supervision of their instructor. 

The behavioral issues then lead into the topic of respecting authority. Commonly, parents do not install a strong enough position in their child’s life. By allowing their child to have too much freedom a, they aren’t establishing a foundation of discipline. Without it, students will see their teachers in the same way they do their parents. If a child is disrespecting a parent or getting into trouble and are never redirected, the student will not learn how to react when they are corrected. They may refuse discipline and might not understand how to give respect to those in charge of them. When a child is told no for the first time by someone other than a parent, things can take a turn for the worse.

Some parents see taking their child to school as a parenting break, or as a place where their child’s poor habits are broken. But by no means have teachers ever been required to parent their students in this way. Their job is to help them learn and do the best they possibly can to make them better than they were at the beginning of the year. However, a teacher’s job becomes significantly more difficult without help at home in the lives of his or her students. The parents who don’t realize this will then point fingers at their child’s educator when they struggle in school or when they are sent home in trouble for behavioral issues. 

In one school year, a child spends 3,605 hours at home and 1,505 hours at school. This statistic alone should prove that most of a student’s character should be learned at home. While a teacher can show students how to read, write, speak, do math, and do many other skills, they will not get better without practicing them on their own. Parent involvement in their child’s learning is extremely key to their success. If good study habits aren’t taught at home, they will not be carried to school. If practice spelling tests aren’t given nightly by a guardian, the student will not pass the test. If children are not read to at night by a parent, they will not learn to read in the most successful way possible. 

A good foundation at home will set up a good foundation at school. From that point, a student will be able to build upon it and carry themselves far through their education. When parents become more involved with their child’s education, the job of the teacher will have less pressure caused by behavior or learning issues that can slow things down. With this improved lifestyle and learning environment, the student is bound to be more successful.