About time parents step up to the plate and take some responsibility for their child's learning.
Seeing her children struggle, Brenda Leverett went looking for help.
"I don't want them to be like me," the Richmond County mother said. "I want them to be better than myself."
Ms. Leverett was among about 75 parents who attended Bayvale Elementary's first Parent Academy, an event held Monday night to engage parents, encourage their involvement and provide them with resources for working with their children.
Parents need to take the time to teach their children to make good decisions, said Capt. Leonard Hart, who heads up the sheriff's office narcotics division. He cited Augusta Ink, the recent sweep that netted about 100 gang members, each facing 10 years in prison for gang affiliation alone.
"They didn't go to jail because they were big-time criminals. They went to jail because they were stupid," Capt. Hart told parents. "Parents need to be parents. Parents need to man-up."
As early as elementary school, children are roaming the streets until 3 and 4 a.m., he said. And it's children that young who are being drafted into gangs.
Capt. Hart estimated that 700 to 800 elementary school-age children walk the streets all night without supervision.
The research shows that parents who aren't involved are more likely to have children who turn toward criminal activity, said Velverlyn Bussey, a Title I parent facilitator who also spoke.
But that's only one of the long list of benefits of parental involvement, Dr. Bussey said. Parents influence how well students succeed in school, their children's attendance and behavior and the school's morale.
"It takes the home, the school and the community working together to make it happen," she said. "No longer can the school work alone."
Dr. Bussey said involvement tends to "taper off" in middle school, an important transition period, and mothers are usually more involved than fathers.
"A lot of times, we have the women coming out, but it's very important we get the men involved," she said.
It's her job to work with parents and provide them the resources they need for their children to succeed. Stressing her willingness to work with parents, she said she would meet them anywhere to assist them, whether that be a fast-food restaurant or anywhere else.
Bayvale Principal Dana Harris said parents are the "single most important variable" in a child's schooling.
"The parents are the child's first teacher," she said. "Teachers will not be able to do their job without the support of the parents."
Monday night's free event, which featured small group discussions, dinner and haircuts for the children, was the first of many parent forums, Dr. Harris said.
Reach Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com.
GETTING INVOLVED
Richmond County has PTAs, school councils and school board advisory committees, but there are other ways for parents to get involved.
- Attending school events
- Responding to notes from teachers
- Communicating with teachers when they have concerns, even if it seems small or unrelated to school
- Reviewing papers that come home to show interest and concern
- Establishing a study place and routine
- Knowing a child's friends
- Offering to do volunteer work at home if you are unable to be at the school
Source: Assistant Superintendent for School Improvement and Program Development Pat Burau
Comments
About time parents step up to the plate and take some responsibility for their child's learning.
The Great Society programs instituted in the '60's have almost destroyed large sectors of our population. Families without parents are the norm. Huge tax penalties for the rest of the nation is the result. Now another government program to get families involved is the answer de jour? Acting concerned and looking concerned isn't the answer. The fix for this problem can be found at its beginning...before the Great Society. THANK YOU LBJ.
Parent Universities have been used for several years in schools I am familiar with and are successful. They teach the parents how to teach their children to make the correct choices, how to be involved in their childs lives without being a helicopter parent.
I am an exhibitor at these functions and I have seen the changes and the difference. A lot of the young parents today don't have mentors or role models to look to and this really fills the need. patriciathomas, you're off base on this one!
This an an "After the fact" fix.....stopping the breeding is the cure.
"700 to 800 elementary school-age children walk the streets all night without supervision" common sense would tell you the parents don't care if their children are out all night. I say arrest the parent if their child is out all night and up to no good. Then they will make sure the kid is home at night and not out robbing or writing "bloods" on some wall.
Didn't mean to imply it wasn't a good band-aide Peanuts, depending on how long it's well managed, just saying the problem will continue as long as the source remains in place. Fix the cause and maintain the repair for a generation and the ship will once again be righted.
I think it's a great idea to educate the parents that don't know how to raise a child. If you think about it, many kids roam the streets all over the world because parents are at work or out partying. When parents realize that they are indeed parents and not their children's friend/buddy that they can hang out with, then they will have kids that turn out half decent. You don't have to be with them 24 hours a day but the time they are out of school and you are off work is the most crucial of all. Teach your kids so that when they grow up, they can teach their kids.
I really wish that we had more programs available afterschool to keep these children steered in a postive direction. Alot of times the trouble that kids get into comes from being bored. I do understand that there are some after school programs held at the school, but what about the summer. What happens if these parents can't afford the cost of camp, what choice do they have but work and leave the kids attended if that's what it takes.
That parents' attention is crucial to student learning is indubitable. But, where should such attention be aimed? My experience suggests that a great degree of parents' attention should be focused upon the classrooms where their children are enrolled. Hopefully, Dr. Frazier isn't the only principal in metro Augusta who appreciates the value of parents who pay close attention to their children's education from chairs in the backs of their kids' Language Arts, Math, Science and Geography classrooms.
How much more responsibility is going to be placed on the schools? Already they have before school care, after school care, sometimes Saturday school. I don't appreciate my hard earned tax dollars funding babysitting. I realize that some schools charge for before and after school care but isn't it unfair for young children to be dropped off at a school at 7:00 am or earlier and not be picked up until 11 or more hours later? Yes, it is a good thing the parents have a job but some of the parenting should actually be done by parents of these children. Parenting classes are a good idea but how sad is it that people can choose to have children and not know how to take care of them properly.
AMEN!!!!! workingmom You are so right.!!!!!!
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