Editorial: Parents are firewalls to protect kids
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There are a lot of names for parents today.
Helicopter parents hover. Snowplow parents clear the way. Lawn-mower parents cut down obstacles. Name a piece of equipment you probably shouldn’t operate while on cold medicine, and there’s a metaphor for a parent who spends too much time involved in a kid’s life.
But is that entirely fair?
Absolutely, there are parents who need to put some distance in their relationship. Your recent college graduate doesn’t need you emailing recruiters for him or tagging along on her job interviews. There’s no better way to say that your precious angel isn’t ready for that entry-level accounting job like Mommy negotiating a contract.
Schools invite parents into the process, however, and say they want participation. From the first days of preschool, it is emphasized that an active parent can be the difference between a successful kid and that basement-dweller who can’t pay his car insurance.
What parents have to be is a firewall. Just like the high-tech software, a parent has to stand between a kid and outside threats. That’s the job.
That’s why Norwin School District parents are right to question what happened to let Brad W. Geyer, 37, of Connellsville, volunteer to help with the middle school production of “Frozen Jr.” Geyer pleaded guilty to one count of furnishing alcohol to minors and three counts of corruption of minors in November and is on probation.
Like a firewall, the parents have to demand answers. How was he brought in? Who knew about his legal issues, and if no one knew, why not? Does the district’s volunteer policy need to be reviewed or updated — or just better enforced?
Parents are often dismissed as being too protective these days, but in a state where grand jury reports that uncover epic child sex abuse are just a little too common, there’s plenty of reasons for snowplows and lawn mowers.
This is the biggest reason. Asking about safety before a problem occurs. Questioning how a process broke down before a kid is broken.
Parents are pushed to follow classwork on the teacher’s website, and to check the school page daily, and then the daily assignments are available for review on Google Classroom, and you probably just got an alert on your phone about the grade on the math test from PowerSchool.
Maybe schools don’t want helicopters, but they’re definitely facilitating parents becoming drones. They shouldn’t be surprised when the parents start hovering over the schools.