Karen N, dont have any answers for you, but yuo might enjoy these commentaries on 'then vs now' society:
Affluenza , John DeGraaf
The DIssappearance of Childhood, Neil Postman
The thing that impresses me the most about America is the way parents obey their children. King Edward the 8th
A great proportion of the misery that wanders, in hideous forms, around the world, is allowed to rise from the negligence of parents. Mary Wollstonecraft
I completely agree with the idea of canceling stuff. We have had a great response so far this year in people signing up to volunteer for stuff but when it actually comes to following though, people are either canceling or not showing up. Someone had the great idea of running a small event during conferences last night and guess who ended up doing all of the work--me and one other board member. I'm starting to close my mind to new ideas because I know it's just going to end up being more work for me. We have a carnival coming up in a few weeks and I have decided that at least parts of it will be canceled if more parents don't step up. I work hard at this but I am not physically capable of doing it all myself.
If you don't get "Tim's Tips" from this site-check into it. His tip yesterday was called the "4 Minute Makeover". He talked about having all your board members set aside 4 minutes a day to call parents who helped with an event or program and personally thank them for doing it. the thought being that not only are you letting them know you're grateful, but the personal touch will keep those people involved. I passed it on to our President because we had just discussed a similar idea as a way to get parents to meetings. You can even call those 8 people who came to your meeting and thank them for coming and tell them you hope to see them at the next meeting. You could even ask them to bring a friend!
I know that I've always made a point of sending pretty thank you cards with a handwritten message to the people who have helped with events I've chaired. My motive is two part-to let them know how much their help was appreciated and that maybe the positive feedback will keep them involved. It works too!
If it's a matter of getting parents involved in the first place, a letter is a start, but it's much harder to say "no" to someone when they have you on the phone or better yet are standing in front of you! We had a year where parents weren't jumping in on an event and I finally just started putting out the word that parts of the event were going to be cut due to lack of volunteers( I wasn't joking either). Suddenly I had people coming up to me on the sidewalk in front of the school offering their help. Cancelling something can be a tough thing, but you don't want your event to be a failure due to lack of help and you don't want to wear out the wonderful volunteers you do have.
sometimes when asking for more parent volunteers or involvement...Be specific. Tell them exactly what kind of help you are looking for and what is needed.
As a parent of children ages 27,13,and 8 obviously things have changed greatly. I
thought when we made the decision for me to leave my job after 17 years to give my children the values I grew up with it would be enough. Six years later I am working as a lunch aide and totally shocked at the behavior of elementary age kids. The problem is the number of children being disruptive is so great the kids who value education are not able to get it. The Board of Education is trying so hard to change this. The problem is making these parents responsible for the childrens behavior. I am desperately searching for way to do this, in the meantime and I spend everyday trying to teach these kids respect and recognize the consequences of good vs. bad. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
can I get a copy of your letter. We are in a state that if we can't get people to volunteer then we too will have to cancel our carnival but I just don't know what to say in a letter to stress that.
Thanks
