So when do we start blaming parents instead of schools? And saying, “this is what you get, take it or leave it, you have to put effort in too”? Parents treat themselves as customers expecting a turnkey service, when instead they are stakeholders with their own book of work and responsibilities they need to be accountable for to deliver the environment and education their child will need to become a functioning member of society.
It sounds like the article is about parents holding themselves fully accountable for their children’s education.
The problem is what you do with the parents who do not care at all. People making these statements that “it’s about the parents” - well, it has some truth to it. But when 10% of the students are running the halls, screaming and fighting, beating random kids, having sex and doing drugs in the bathrooms, and assaulting teachers who don’t care anymore, then it doesn’t matter what the other 90% of the parents are doing.
We started blaming parents long, long ago and never stopped. Unfortunately that's not effective in many cases. A lot of parents are ineffectual, apathetic, or shameless. Blaming them might make the rest of us feel morally superior but it doesn't improve outcomes for their children.
And for older children, peers tend to influence them more than parents anyway. Turning around a failing student will often require separating them from their current friends. Tough to do when you can't afford to move to a better school district.
This aspect is so different from South and East Asian society. We expect little from the teachers (not to say they’re bad), the majority of the onus and blame lies with the parent.
