We all know about this phenomenon of “helicopter parents”. In a recent email exchange between Alisa and me, she made some points worth sharing. (By the way, anything I share here from private email correspondence will have always been approved by the sender, just fyi.)
Ben,
I believe this particular [helicopter] parent was listening to the other from last week who was complaining about her precious having to wait three seconds before answering chorally. These dragon moms believe they aren’t getting their children’s rIgor needs met!
By the way this kind of petty complaining to the top is a new phenomenon in our district. My new principal is determined to retrain the parents to engage in pedagogical conversations with the teacher instead of tattling…
I guess I’m old/veteran enough to see recently a real shift in parent attitude toward their kids’ teachers. My theory is that the culture has shifted (more me-centered; more immediate gratification with electronics, etc.) such that the good of the group, and the lessons from being part of a community are no longer appreciated as they once were…it’s all “My kid must get ahead!”
My mistake perhaps has been to try to identify as a parent with each and every one of these angry missives – when really, I don’t identify at all – not with the demographic (rich); not with the attitude (entitled); not with the value priorities (my kid over the group/community/school….)
Alisa