Parental Responsibilities- Education

I have about seven minutes before I enter into a meeting. It is not enough time to start a new project, but too much time to twiddle my thumbs.

During the past week I have seen blog entries and news stories regarding the state of public education within the US and the world and wanted to remark upon them.

There are no studies out there that I accept at face value because too many of them rely upon standardized testing to determine their results. I find standardized tests to be less than satisfactory because they fall short in multiple areas, not the least of which is that there are many children who simply do not test well. Results there are not always indicative of whether the child is truly learning the material that they are being tested upon.

Nonetheless as we need standards to measure by, they are for now a necessary evil. All that aside, the biggest issue and influence in a child's education are his/her parents.

If you have children you have an obligation to provide them with more than just food and shelter. You have an obligation to help them receive a good education. And that means that sometimes you have to subjugate your own interests and desires to work with them and to help them understand that their parents have a vested interest in their education and their well-being.

Without that influence you place an unfair burden upon your child. When they are young they cannot make the decision about whether to study or to play, so you must help them. It is part of the package and one of those things that has to be done.