Parents of different nature

The teachers have to perform many important duties in and outside the school and the most important of all is the interaction and proper guidance to the children being taught by them. In addition to this, the teachers in government schools are engaged in some other works also which may not really be helping them to learn for the benefit of the students in terms of effective class room environment. Most of the class teachers are responsible for the collection of the fees or such tasks which are primarily of clerical nature. Proper record of the children including their family background (this is necessary for the teachers to know) and the caste and the religion they belong to is also expected from the teacher. Then the preparation of the result and the report cards etc is also to be done by the teachers in most of the schools, Not only they are responsible for the bus duties etc. so that the children are transported to and from the schools safely. We can list many more which are equally important for the safety and growth of the children and the teachers are expected to perform all these tasks very well. In addition to all this the discipline in and outside the school is of paramount importance and the school teachers are to look after that also. Fortunately the teachers` training institutes do cater to such areas and prepare the teacher for tackling such situations and the tasks. But the other important areas which remain almost untouched during the training programme are interaction and managing the parents and the very active social organization including the media. This is also very important role to be played by the teachers in the interest of the children because the parents and the society plays significant role in the development of the children`s personality. They also contribute in the learning and future planning of the students so that they prove to be an asset to the society. In this group media comes into picture not very regularly but the parents are the integral part of the day to day happening in the school. The mode of the communication, courtesy technology is very fast, and sometimes even those things are conveyed to the parents which were not worth mentioning. Though it is always good that the children are so open to their parents that they discus everything which takes place in the school. But the important thing for the parents to understand is when to get involved and come into the picture which will really help the children and the teacher both. We come across different type of parents who behave differently in the same situation. There are some who don’t have time to interact with their children and have left everything to the school and the teachers. They consider that once the child has been admitted to a school their role becomes insignificant. The extreme group of the teachers is that of those parents who are too much involved in everything the children do. They will nag them to know about everything right from boarding the bus till they come back home. Questions asked by them are like who was the child sitting by your side, was he/she disturbing you, did the teacher scold you, was there any other child who was praised and not you, was the teacher rude to you, did she appreciate you for the home work or the project done by you, did the other children ate your tiffin, why did teacher taste a bite from your food and so many more things. This becomes little too much and the child find self a bit suffocated and the independent thinking rarely develops in such children. The other category of the parents is those who do keep an eye what their children are doing but do not get in their personal life too often. They do discus about their activity in the school but would encourage the children to talk of good things which the child might have done or some other people including the children and the other children might have done to him/her. Some parents interact with the children rarely and mostly related to the academic achievement and if by chance the child had not been able to perform well they express their unhappiness in no uncertain terms. If it continues for few months then the children develop habit of telling a lie to save self from getting the scolding from the parents. Some parents are very honest in admitting the weakness of their child while others try to find fault in the schools or other children. We come many cases where it is very clear that the statement given by the parent is not correct but the teachers will have to listen to that and they are supposed not to counter that immediately. Some parents are very polite while talking to the teachers and other children and there are a few who shout on everyone. The psychologists have said those people who do not have conversation with the other person in a congenial atmosphere suffer from some disease. Some parents want to dominate on the other people particularly the teachers by shouting and alleging with all those things which have no base. I remember a case where a child told the teacher that as she was not keeping well so she can be excused from a particular activity and the teacher believed the child and allowed as desired. This happened two three times and the teacher tried to motivate the child not to miss the activity so often, the parents were angry that why the teacher was forcing the child to do something which she was not keen. The teacher agreed to the request of the parents. Now when it was the assessment time all children did their project or the assignment and the child in thecase said she could not do because she was never taught by the teacher. The parents also came and shouted on the teacher for negligent attitude towards their daughter which was not the truth. The teacher tried to convince them but they did not listen. The child was given another date for the assessment test and on that day also she told the teacher that her mother told her not to appear in the test as she was not prepared. The teacher does not want to have unpleasant argument with the parents because this does not help the child in any way. There is another case in which the parent knows the problems of his son who keep disturbing other children I the class but would always blame other children and the teachers only. When he is called to the school he does not do anything but shout so that nobody talks about the problems of his son. These are few cases and there are many more like those. One parent does not want her daughter to have internet access because he has the fear that she will get spoiled because of so much negative material available on the net. He has told teachers that her daughter should not be given any project which requires outdoor activities or the use of net. But at the same time there are large numbers of parents who are always willing to help the teachers so that their children perform better that what they have been doing. They give a lot of respect to the teachers and always appreciate the sacrifice made by the teachers. Now this is a very important task for teachers to take care of all kinds o f the parent in a manner so that the children improve and they do not suffer because of the attitude and the behavior of the parents. In this media can play important role by playing unbiased role. We must t understand that the children do not tell a lie but some disgruntled people can make to do so. Similarly all teachers also do not tell a lie and we should have faith in them and believe them until prove otherwise. The major problems faced by the teacher as on today is that they are labeled as to be telling a lie though he/ she may be absolutely true.

So what is the solution? What I feel is that we have to accept parents of our children as they are and if possible sit with them and try to counsel in a conducive environment because negative tit for tat would not solve the problem. The teachers are to be trained that they are responsible for the children under their charge irrespective of the behavior of the parents of the children. The parents’ negative behavior should not change our behavior towards them and the children should not be allowed to suffer at all. The teachers` training institutes should also include the parents counseling and handling in their curriculum. This aspect of the teachers job profile is also as important as others because if the teacher gets demoralized by the actions and the comments of few disturbed parents than it would affect all the children and not only the teachers.