Home In The Classroom: Parenting

Time for me to continue my little look at the achievement gap from different perspectives. This post is the first about the role parenting plays.

It is known that a student's home life has a tremendous impact on their success in school, which makes sense. A home that offers a good study environment gives a student a good place to do homework, while also sending a message that their education matters. That message is further reinforced when parents make sure their kid gets their homework done, and when they show up to their sports games, concerts, and whatever else. A student is more likely to take their education seriously when the adults in their life make it a priority.

On the flip side, a bad or negligent home environment gives the opposite message. When a kid has to worry about yelling, screaming, and maybe even physical abuse when they get home, those worries come before homework. Even if the abuse is only around the student, and not directed at them, it creates a toxic environment (would anyone study at a library if it regularly held WWE events?).

In some ways though, an absent parent is the worst of all. The type that watches television and barely notices when their kid comes home, much less when they have a big test or project. They send a message that the kid's schoolwork does not matter, or maybe something even worse: the kid doesn't matter. Education is filled with challenges and obstacles, and a kid with a "why bother?" attitude will not have the will power to make it through, even if they have all the ability in the world.

That is my pitch for why parents should be an active part of education. Just sending the message to a kid that education matters, and that they can learn what they are being taught, does wonders. Absent parents that adopt the attitude that it is school's job to take care of education do their own kids a disservice. It gives them a major hurdle to climb over in the classroom.

While I think parenting is not a major cause of the achievement gap, it plays a pivotal role in which students persevere. In an educational system that has fostered an achievement gap, perseverance is critical to success, and parenting is the best way to cultivate it.