By: Karthik Meiyappan; Seattle. Age: 13 years.

Nanal Essay: Is Parental Involvement in School Life Good or Bad?

The most successful people keep learning throughout their lives. Are you such a person? Who is going to be your “guru” when you leave school campus? In other words who is your teacher throughout your life? - day or night, weekday or week end, summer vacation? It is our parents! Parental involvement in school life is beneficial to both the student and the schools.

When a student brings home a grade, the parent can react in a variety of different ways. The worst way is not to react at all. If parents do not appreciate the gains, there is no motivation for the children to learn and expand their limits. If the student is maintaining a good grade, parents reward them with praise or a small gift. If they are improving their grade, this calls for a greater reward. This helps reinforce the good behavior in children and gives confidence. It is the parents who can make this difference in a child. A teacher or school reward system is too broad and is a token reward, however a parent’s reward is so personal and it will make every student attain a reward. Dear parents, If your children had not put enough effort into their work, then let them know that this is not acceptable, and help them realize the mistakes they made. Talk with your student about how they would correct their mistakes. If they know how to, that’s great! Tell them to ask the teacher if their revised answer would be correct. If they don’t know, definitely have them inquire to the instructor about what the right answer would have looked like. Then, pay attention to similar assignments in the future and see if your student’s work has improved. If the parents are not tracking the progress, who can help the kids realize their needs? Yes teacher will give a grade and general advice to the class. The individual attention comes from the family. student’s school life than the parents.

Parents guide their children in the right direction by involving them in activities and clubs which match their interest and you think that will help them learn. Learning is not just textbooks. Sports are a great way for a student to spend his time, even if (s)he doesn’t want to be a professional athlete. This is because sports help keep a student’s body healthy and their mind fresh. Participating in sports means a lot of afterschool and weekend activities. It is those involved parents who commit their time to their children’s life make this possible for the students.

Lot of kids are involved in musical arts and learn an instrument. This is greatly beneficial because it not only provides entertainment; it also helps students in their studies because music is based on patterns, just like science and math. Well music involves concert performances another after school activity. It is impossible to think a lot of these activities without active participation from parents. Fund raising is a big part for schools these days – I hear budget cuts, not sure what it is-. It is parents who make it possible for many school activities to be sustained with their time, fund raising and other PTA activities.

Many companies celebrate “Take Your Kid to Work Day”, which are filled with all kinds of educational activities related to your career for kids of all ages. Many parents take advantage of this national “Take Your Kid to Work Day”. What a wonderful opportunity! Where will the children experience this, if the parents are not actively participating in school life? Every summer I am bored (despite the multitude of toys parents buy every year), some of those summer days my parents offer me to come to work on some evenings. I am more excited to “work” with my dad in his office than playing with my X-box. It feels great to use an instrument an engineer is using in a real lab! Walk along those huge machines and actually see them work. It plants seeds of confidence.

One more area in which parental involvement is good is when parents help their students with home work. Students often have difficulty in some assignments because they are just hard. Here, you parents can help because you probably have knowledge of the subject matter. However, start when your child is young, because around eighth grade, your child just may start to outsmart you!

Many parents volunteer at your child’s school. This will create a more positive environment for your child to learn in, and it will help staff. Schools are always in need of extra help. Volunteering is not always just helping out at the school itself. Chaperones for field trips are essential, because most places will not allow a field trip to that area without a certain number of chaperones per group of students. If parents are not involved who will make these trips possible? Field trips are a very enriching experience for your child, especially in musical classes, because your child will love to perform the music that they have learned and practiced for so long. When you are there to hear it, it makes the performance better for them and you.

Parental involvement in school life is more than just good, it is an excellent use of your time because it helps your child be a better, more successful person in the future, and you are more connected to your child.