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Encouraging parents to play a more active role in their children's education is a must now, more than ever. In today's world where kids are getting off track very easily, the parents must be involved in all aspects of the child's life, to encourage growth and to ensure they do not stray the wrong way.

School boards and teachers certainly have their work cut out for them. It is far too easy to blame the teachers for a child's failing grades or misbehavior, and in today's society it seems as though no one will take any responsibility. If the parents, the teachers and the school board all worked together to ensure a child's success, then there would be far less children going astray, by getting into gangs and drugs.

When a child's parents are not actively involved in the child's life, including their education, then it appears to onlookers that perhaps the parents don't care, and it certainly makes the child feel as their parents do not care about them. I have seen this happen so many many times. When a parent is actively involved in a child's life, that child has a better chance of becoming a responsible and respectful young adult.

When a parent becomes actively involved in a child's education, then the lines of communication are opened between parent, child and teacher. Problems that can develop may be caught earlier, and then rectified. It also seems to me that when a teacher knows the parents are active and they care, the teacher also seems to care more about that child. When a teacher feels they are working alone to help a child, and they are not receiving any support from the home front, they may feel as if they are fighting a losing battle.

My sister in law is a perfect example of this. She has three kids who are all struggling to get through school. She does nothing but blame the teachers for their inability to help their children and yet she does nothing to encourage or support them at home. No homework is ever checked and when they receive phone calls from the school that their children have skipped school, there are no consequences.

In a child's education, no one is off the hook. If you are a teacher, you have hopefully chosen this profession to help children and care about them. The school boards oversee the school and rectify any problems, and the parents need to back the teachers up, by supporting and disciplining their own children. In a perfect world, all of these factors would be active and it would enable a child to have a more harmonious upbringing.

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