Taking Responsibility for Your Childs Grades

kids in the classroom

A group called the National Coalition for Accountable Parenting is focused on encouraging a national discussion about the roles that parents take when it comes to their children’s grades. They go a step further by calling for an action plan that would hold parents responsible for the grades of students who are not passing or not completing work in a timely manner. They believe parents should take responsibility for their child’s grades and that no teacher or school administration should be blamed for what is seen as a lack of discipline and educational morale at home.

With the introduction of the No Child Left Behind laws, which are now being phased out by public schools, many educators and school administrators are questioning why all parties in the educational process—administration, teachers, and students—are being held accountable for children passing school, EXCEPT for the parents. At the same time, teachers and school systems not only value the role of parents in the educational system, but also see many parents waving a white flag when it comes to their child’s school progress. Parents often show up to teacher conferences concerned about less-than-desirable grades, ready to wag a shameful finger at the school systems for not holding up their end of the bargain. But is it really the teacher’s fault? Who, pray tell, has the most direct influence over children? Wouldn’t that be the parents and the environment in which they are raised?

The Impact of Home Life on Education

The problem is that research from nearly every facet of education shows that one of the best indicators of a child’s progress and success in school comes from their home life. If a child lives in a home where education is valued and where parents are involved in the educational process, the student will perform better. This leads to the truth that if a child lives in a home where education is not valued, no matter how hard school systems and teachers work, the child is at risk of failing. In fact, research from the US Department of Education indicates that most kids who drop out of high school come from homes where little to no value is placed on education.

So, who is to blame when a child doesn’t do well in school? Is the easy way out to simply blame the teacher for not teaching the child well enough? Is it the student’s fault for not doing what they are supposed to do? Or does much of the responsibility lie on the influences of the home?

One marker that indicates a lack of academic success is inherently linked to a child’s attendance. Attendance is directly linked to parents. The National Coalition for Accountable Parenting, as reported in The Washington Post, believes that parents who fail to get their kids to school on time—or at all—should be criminally punished and fined for their irresponsibility. After all, when it comes to children who are not able to drive, the responsibility to ensure they go to school lies with the parents. Unfortunately, many parents do not care whether their child goes to school. Each absence, each lesson missed due to an unexcused absence, sends a struggling child even further behind. The responsibility of the teacher should not lie solely with the needs of one child when they have a classroom full of students who attend class regularly and complete their assigned work. Teachers have large curriculums to cover within a year, and extensive absences make it impossible for them to waste precious class time catching up just one student.

In several U.S. states, such as California and Alaska, parents can be fined up to $500 for five or more unexcused absences. Many school systems across North America are considering similar actions to put an end to lackadaisical parenting when it comes to education.

Other initiatives focus not on punishing parents who fail their children academically, but on rewarding the parents of successful children with tax breaks. The hope is that these incentives will encourage more parents to get involved and support their children’s academic success.

Unfortunately, the devaluation of education is a learned behavior. Statistics show that parents who did not graduate high school themselves are nine times as likely to have a child who also does not graduate. Reeducating these families through the department of family and children services, and including punishments or fines for those who do not conform to educational standards, is one way that school systems are looking to redefine academic accountability.

Let’s face it: if you have children and they come home with homework, it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that it gets done. Teaching healthy study habits, instilling a deep appreciation for learning, and encouraging kids to become self-sufficient and responsible students are all lessons learned at home. Regardless of what a child is capable of in the classroom under the direction of teaching staff, these lessons need to be reinforced at home as well.

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