No parents show up for a school meeting about parental involvement

I'm a pretty involved parent. I go to all my children's conferences, whether there's an issue or not. I volunteer at their school. I go to home and school association meetings. I participate in special committees in the district. But, boy, a public meeting to discuss the problem of parental involvement? There aren't enough refreshments in the world to get me to a meeting like that.

Some parents are truly uninvolved, and that's sad. Others are just prioritizing, and that's inevitable. You've got kids with homework, and dinner to make, and early bedtimes, and dance lessons, and instrument practices, and then you want me to drop all that and sit in a meeting room while people talk at a problem? Been there, done that, wish I'd stayed home and tucked my kids in.

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I wonder if there was a snowstorm that day? Or was it the seson premiere of the Sopranos? COuld there be a good reason?

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I found that our local school board has a tendency to schedule meetings at a time when many parents cannot make it. They're usually 30 minutes after rush hour starts, which makes it nearly impossible for anyone on the west end of the county to make it there without taking off early.

Even assuming it was possible for parents in this side of the county to make it over right after work, many have to pick younger children up from daycare or after school care. I've heard the meetings aren't that well attended, and I'd guess a large part of it is because they start too early to accomodate many working parents.

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Shame on you Buffalo. I can only imagine what kind of a city you will be when these children grow up. Showing up for a meeting to address such an issue is one thing but parents not showing up for teacher/parent conferences very sad.
How could you not want to know about what goes on with your child 40 hrs week and not have a relationship with the person who cares for them??
I don't think a little pizza and lemonade will solve this issue.

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Typical. I am not from Buffalo, but I live here now. There is a lot of apathy, both in the general public and the government. At least that is how it appears to an outsider. And if there was a snowstorm, it doesn't stop anyone here. Perhaps everyone is so sick of the governmental crap around here that they have given up. I am glad, however, that I will not be sending my kids to school here - we will move before they start. I am not impressed with what I know about the public schools in the area (which is honestly limited to what the news portrays).

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I'm not at the school ages yet, but I do know that in my area, any community meetings I may have wanted to attend either occured during the work day, or during bedtimes. I had to lose my voice in a few things because it was obvious that someone hadn't thought about little things like jobs and families.

I would like to hope that's what happened here.

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I think what scares me the most is the attitude of the meeting organizers. To think that even though the meeting was poorly advertised they are blaming it on the lack of food. I don't know about anyone else but cookies and punch do not fill me with a sense of civic responsibility. If the meeting was at a bad time, as many people here have guessed, or poorly advertised, then that needs to be the place to start looking at what they did wrong.

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I probably would have skipped it too. I attend all conferences plus all their assemblies, programs, fund raisers, etc. I don't need a lecture on involvement.

I don't know what Buffalo had in mind but the few general meetings like this I've attended have bored me to tears.

Job scheduling, exhaustion, transportation problems, money, time, can all cause the parents who might benefit to stay home. In some school districts, poverty is the big issue and one extra trip might be too many. Bundling a bunch of kids back up at night? Forget it. It's certainly an issue here and we're much smaller than Buffalo.

If parents aren't showing up for the important events like parent/teacher conferences, they're not going to show up for this. The few dedicated parents or caretakers who do attend don't need it; they are already involved up to their ears.

Free food might work for one meeting but it's not going to provide long term solutions.

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Don't they know what happens when you mix food and long lectures? Sleep.

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Our school always had very well publicised parents nights. There were sandwiches, cookies, cakes and sodas for parents and students as well. The parents were given their childrens schedules, a school map, the corridors were clearly marked, and student volunteers were at each corridor to assits parents finding their childrens rooms. Teachers prepared copies of lesson plans, went over the years curriculum, printed handouts for the parents, and had the grade books available if the parents wished to question their childrens grades or attendance. As teachers, we even got all dressed up to meet the parents, discuss their children, and advise them of what they could do to help their child be a successful student. The first four years I taught, I had one parent attend. Not one a year, but one parent in four years. One year, when I had 140 students, 3 parents showed up and I thought the evening was a resounding success. I do not know what steps the school council took in Buffalo to attract parents, but the sad truth is, The majority of our parents never show any interest in their childs schooling unless they feel they have been unfairly persucuted. At which time they show up cussing, threatening and often with their minister alledging racism. Other that that, we just do not see the parents. How many of you out there experience the same routine?

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