All parents should be required to volunteer time to their children’s schools.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.
The statement simply claims that all parents should be required to volunteer time to their children’s school. It is true that in spending time in school, parents have more chances to communicate with their children’s teachers and know how well their children study in school so as to solve any problems with respect to study or living. However, with close examination, the claim that all parents must spare time to volunteer in children’s schools sounds a little bit infeasible and unrealistic because maybe some parents have too much work to squeeze enough time; maybe all parents with little experience might bring difficulty to school’s regulation.
It is beneficial for parents to volunteer time to their children’s schools because parents thus have opportunities to learn something about their children’s lives in school. Moreover, they could also communicate with teachers to find out where their child stands as far as physical and mental development is concerned;They could grasp and absorb information on their child’s strong point as well as weak points that require special attention and concentration;Also, being a volunteer in children’s school, parents not only could experience school life once more, but also could take part in some activities, which affords parents more interactions with children. For example, most of parents in America always spend their time in children’s school. Some of them help teachers take care of children and some of them serve as referee in some children’s competition, score children’s works with teachers. During these activities, parents get much more information about their children as well as getting pleasure with their children. This interaction paves way for a waggish and light-hearted experience for the parents who are otherwise busy with their day to day activities;
However, not all of parents could volunteer time to their children’s schools. The reasons are various. Some parents must spend a lot of time in business. Otherwise, they might be fired or given less money. Sometimes, some parents in school are inclined to bring adverse effects to schools. For instance, some parents are addicted to smoking; so smoking in front of children not only is detrimental to their children’s health but also gives children a bad image. What’s more, without enough experience, parents might do wrong things, even though their intention are well meaning, which might put a heavy burden on teachers. Therefore, in order for parents to prepare for being a good volunteer, some training and orientation must be required, and unfortunately, these inevitably should cost many financial and human resources. Hence, we can see, because of the reasons mentioned above, this recommendation, though well-intentioned, might hardly be put into effect. So, if schools have enough money and staff, these schools could let some parents who have enough time and energy volunteer in schools.
First requiring parents to volunteer in their children’s school puts undue pressure on working parents especially parents that work more than one job to support their families. Forcing parents to volunteer at school could cause a financial loss for some families. Parents would be forced to miss work or lose sick time that they may need another day when an emergency happens. Without full financial support, children may suffer from home instability ranging from loss of meal security to missing the necessities of school supplies.
Secondly requiring parents to volunteer time to their children’s school puts pressure on staff to accommodate parents. Although it is invaluable to have parents involved in the school, it will be undue and unnecessary pressure on the school staff. The front office staff will see an influx of visitors that can lead to distraction from school duties. Teachers will have more parents in the classrooms but will it make the classrooms better? Parent volunteers would need to be objective in the classrooms they are volunteering in. They would need to avoid interfering with the teacher’s instruction and management of the classroom. If parents are unable to be objective, it will require the teacher to manage with yet another distraction in his or her classroom.
Furthermore requiring parents to volunteer in a classroom may negatively impact the relationship between the parent and the school and its staff members. Unless a parent wants to volunteer forcing parents may cause them to negatively interact with staff members and students. Students that observe these negative interactions may believe it is okay for them to treat the same adults that way. This will cause even more problems in a school and can change the school from a positive safe environment to one full of negativity and disrespect.
Parents should have the opportunity to volunteer for events that fit their availability; they should be included in important events such as graduations and parent teacher conferences when necessary, and overall volunteering should be flexible across the board as opposed to imposing a strict requirement.