Schools beg parents to show they care

Auckland high schools are pleading with parents to become more involved in their children's education, saying they are shocked at how little some seem to care.

With important exams looming, dozens of schools have used their newsletters to urge parents to show more interest, with some suggesting they switch off TVs, cut out internet and cellphones - and even take car keys off students.

Others have asked parents simply to talk to their children.

Near exam time, De La Salle College had to "hammer it and hammer it and hammer it" to get parents interested, principal Brother Steve Hogan said.

"Ask them what assignments they've got. Talk, listen and give lots of praise - and don't expect an answer with boys, it's more of a monosyllabic grunt."

But getting that grunt, he said, could mean the difference between passing and failing.

In July next year, the New Zealand Parent Teacher Association would announce a plan to get parents more involved, said president Diane O'Sullivan.

"It's absolutely, vitally important. The research all shows that the first thing that determines a child's success at school is effective teaching; the second one is parental involvement."

It was particularly important that the message got through to Maori and Pacific Island families, she said.

Mangere College has 74 per cent Pacific Island and 15 per cent Maori students. It has asked parents to let children off chores so they will have time to study.

Principal John Heyes said most Pacific Island students were "locked straight back into a family routine" when they got home - meaning they had to prepare vegetables, look after their siblings and do the washing.

Another problem was big families, shared rooms and no quiet space to study.

Every year the school pushed the "please help" message to parents who mostly had only school leavers' certificates and "very basic qualifications", Mr Heyes said.

Ken Chase, a Wellington man who spent 20 years teaching and is working on a PhD in Maori history, said Maori families still lagged behind when it came to helping their children study.
"I know I had no interest at all from my parents and I had to just struggle my way to the top by myself," he said.

"It's a lack of education, not being educated themselves. It's very hard for a Maori kid to break out of that cycle."

Stephen Thoms, president of the New Zealand Association of Gifted Children, said if schools were not "firing students up" there was nothing that a parent could do.

He said that it was "really hard" on students when their parents did not get involved with their education.

"A lot of kids, especially pre-teens, are studying to please people around them. If the most important people in their lives aren't interested, they lack incentive," he said.

John Langley, dean of education at the University of Auckland, said parents should get children into a study routine.

"A simple piece of advice is to say to kids, 'You don't get your Walkman and you don't get out with your mates until you've done your homework'."

Long work hours, single-parent families and lack of time were no excuse, he said.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY