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Parent Responsibility
In addition to students needing to take responsibility for their own time management, we believe that parents also have a responsibility to bear for this problem. Parents must also take increased initiative in guiding their children in the management of their schedules. Parents can inform students that getting into a prestigious university is not imperative to future success. Parents can point out Ivy League colleges do not hold a monopoly in political office or corporate board rooms, and that the best college for students may not be a Harvard or Yale, but can serve as a springboard to enable a student to reach their full potential. As with our Student Self-Responsibility Solution, we recognize that changing the mindset of parents by offering counseling and educational seminars about time and schedule management is not a public policy, however the role of the parent in these school-related decisions in unquestionably important, and therefore they must be educated on the topic along with their children.
In addition to students needing to take responsibility for their own time management, we believe that parents also have a responsibility to bear for this problem. Parents must also take increased initiative in guiding their children in the management of their schedules. Parents can inform students that getting into a prestigious university is not imperative to future success. Parents can point out Ivy League colleges do not hold a monopoly in political office or corporate board rooms, and that the best college for students may not be a Harvard or Yale, but can serve as a springboard to enable a student to reach their full potential. As with our Student Self-Responsibility Solution, we recognize that changing the mindset of parents by offering counseling and educational seminars about time and schedule management is not a public policy, however the role of the parent in these school-related decisions in unquestionably important, and therefore they must be educated on the topic along with their children.
- Reasoning- We recognize that the overbearing pressure to succeed from parents in competitive communities such as Basking Ridge makes it difficult for highly ambitious students to balance their parents expectations, their own expectations, and the need for sleep/down time. We believe that because parents are highly influential in developing their children’s motivation and drive to succeed in all facets of life, parents are also responsible for advocating that their children maintain the mental health through sufficient sleep each night. Parents should also feel an obligation to encourage their teen to allow for sufficient time to balance the various classes, homework, after-school-activities, and relaxation time that are all essential to a balanced life for a teen.
- Pros- One benefit would be an improved relationship between parents and students. In many high-strung, high expectation communities like Basking Ridge, high schoolers and their parents are often at odds with one another due to the immense pressure to succeed that both parents and society places on students. Students often must choose between the extra hour of sleep, or that extra AP course. If parents can work more closely with their child on shaping their day to day schedule in a way that students do not have to feel constantly overwhelmed, students might feel as though parents do not want them to be successful at the cost of their own mental health, while parents might be able to better understand that their child’s reluctance to a more rigorous academic schedule is not lazy, rather that they want to balance hard work and necessary rest.
- Supporters- Students who might benefit from more rest and improved relationships with “helicopter parents” . Parents who struggle with conflicts with their teen and wish to see them live with better mental health, while working with them to maintain high academic standards.
- Cons- Parents who choose to take a more active role in their teen’s decisions may be viewed as even more overbearing than before, which may result in increased conflict. Other parents may feel that being involved in the decisions that students make regarding their class rigor and time management will cause their children to lean on their parents too much for important decisions. However, the goal of our Student Self-Responsibility and Parent Responsibility is to create a three-way equal partnership between the student, parent, and guidance counselor
- Opponents- A belief among certain parents that students must take full responsibility for their scheduling and classwork decisions might opt to not offer any advice to their teens. We would try to convince these parents that their counsel is necessary to creating a manageable schedule that is appropriate for each individual student. While making their own decisions is an important part of how students mature, the societal and parental pressures to succeed makes this process extremely difficult and stressful. This is where parents can contribute and remind their teen that maintaining a healthy balance is key to true success: happiness.
- Implementation- Offer counseling and information sessions on how parents can be involved in their child’s decision making. This could be provided by school or by hiring outside programs. It is fair to say that most of the primary Guidance staff that students deal with during their high school career are frequently busy with scheduling. As mentioned before, this makes it somewhat difficult to have Guidance Counselors dedicate time to helping students navigate high school challenges. One of these challenges is one of the main focuses of our project: stress due to the inability to time manage. This is why the best thing we could do to provide students the counsel they need is to encourage that parents attend information sessions (potentially to be hosted by the school or another educational or even therapeutic company), which could inform both the parent and student about how to make the best decisions for the student's time management, and indirectly, mental health. Of course, programs like these would simply be trying to arm parents with the best knowledge to make the best decision for their child. All decisions regarding these matters would still remain in the hands of the parent.