Those Parents

In his article, "Places for Childhoods Include Parents, Too," which is included in the Exchange Essentials article collection, Communicating Effectively with Parents, Jim Greenman talks about some of the challenges in parent involvement, including...

"Parents easily become 'they' or 'the parents,' not a collection of individuals.  In every population, there is a range of individuals from near saints to clear sinners.  We usually use the annoying and problematic behavior of the least agreeable to create our 'they' that we rail against or reprove with knowing condescension.  The parent who is willing to place her child in care for 60 hours a week — who works part time and pays for facials — defines the 'they,' along with the chronically late parent, the one who forgets the diapers, the 'whiner,' and the one who wants her infant toilet trained.  When some staff gets together and talks about parents, one wonders whether they are talking about a mutant species.  Note, however, the bark is worse than the bite.  Many staff that rail against parents actually behaves in sensitive and accommodating ways when interacting with parents."

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