Learn how to be an A+ Parent
Good parenting seems to be declining into a cultural abyss populated by divorce, drugs and other demons.
The comments students make about their parents is quite revealing, and also rather ominous. The following list is just a sample of what I’ve heard in my career.
- “You (meaning me, the chemistry teacher) just cost me $300. My father promised me that if I got straight A’s. I only got a C in chem.”
- “I left my homework at my father’s house and he won’t bring it to me because he has to work today.”
- “I got kicked out of the house last night”. I didn’t do anything. They are just jerks.”
- “My Pa shot the TV with his 12-gauge last night ’cause me and my brother was arguing about what to watch. Sometimes he gets a little nuts.”
- “My brother’s not as smart as me because our step-father beat him up harder than me.”
- “I hang out in the mall alot (always spelled that way) because my Mom doesn’t like any of my friends and won’t let them in our house.”
Some comments make you mad, others sad and some just are humorous. Most of the things kids say about their parents indicate parenting isn’t what it used to be. Talking in person with parents confirms that suspicion and amplifies the thought that many parents have no clue about how to raise kids in the culture they live in.
Signals Not Heard.
Very little dialogue appears to occur between parents and kids. Lots of shouting… or silence. When I talk with parents the common lament is “My kid never listens to me.” or “I don’t know what to do with my kid.”
The words of both parents and their sons and daughter prompted me to write A+ Parenting in a frustrated attempt to verbalize some logical suggestions parents might try as they raise kids in the twenty-first century.
Table of Contents for A+ Parenting
- Introduction
- Focus on Hope
- The Blame Game
- Enable or Empower?
- Reward or Punish?
- Reading Really Works
- Safe Surfing
- The Risk of Trying
- Count Your Pills
- Learn Their Language
- Know Their Friends
- Go Fly a Kite
- Nuts & Bolts of School & Success
- Big Problems? Find Hope!
- Got God?