By Tracey
Maybe having a parent around all the time won't help you in school. Yesterday's NY Times article, Parent's Unemployment Stress Trickles Down to the Children suggests that it won't, especially when they're feeling stress about being unemployed. I was struck by this statistic which came from a research study from the University of California, Davis. Fifteen percent of children whose parents lose their job are more likely to repeat a grade. This is among children of parents with a high school degree. Another study mentioned in the article reported that the children of single mothers who were unemployed were more likely to drop out of school. With the unemployment rate at 9.3% in Washington (Sept. 09), this impacts all of us.
I don't always know when the parents of my students are unemployed. Some of them volunteer the information, but many don't, preferring to keep that to themselves. I can certainly see the students in my class who are withdrawn and falling behind academically. Contacting their parents is always among the first steps I make. However, that won't be enough. The article details the emotional stresses children experience when they have increased contact with an idle parent. Arguments are more frequent and relationships are strained. The changes in family dynamics can be hard for everyone to adjust. And now with the teacher calling home about missed assignments and low effort; this may only add fuel to the fire.
So, what does this mean for me in my classroom? A lot – of course we stay the course, and do everything we can. But, it might also mean I make room for more counselor visits to help teach conflict resolution, compassion, empathy, and perseverance. It might also mean that I make more time to work with these individual students. And with my already overloaded schedule, how do I fit it all in? I wonder if those who are working to evaluate teachers on test scores are also taking this into account?
Tracey,
this reminds me of Mark’s story of the child whose mom died.
I think there is a way around this, because problems at home existed before the economic downturn and will continue to exist after things pick up again.
Knowing our kids, being given the resources to know our kids like smaller classes, time to communicate with home, looping, blocking, and time to collaborate with colleagues, will help us help our students. We can’t be their parent or counselor, but our empathy is worth a lot. Also, we can take the opportunity to help kids work through tough times. We can teach them to communicate their thoughts and needs. We can teach them how to utilize resources.
But it’s hard to do all those things when we’re going a million miles a minute all day long and don’t have time to touch base with the quiet student who is struggling.
Your post is a good reminder that more children than ever might be facing stresses at home. It’s a good reminder to me to slow down, do the whole “less is more,” thing, and provide lots of opportunities for kids to get their thoughts in order.
The last question is the real stinger. The nature of the assessment game at present seems to be to disregard the external influences on the student, whether it be the emotional demands of economic distress or the very real effect I think happens when students are tested in the presence of the teacher who taught them the skills they are being assessed on.
Unfortunately, the law is the law. Even if the kid has gone hungry and can’t sleep because of their empathy for mom and dad’s unemployment stress, if that kid doesn’t do better than last year’s kids, the schools have failed.
It’s not only ridiculous it’s an injustice to both children and schools alike.