Griping parents

[Anonymous]

Parents often feel the more they pay the more they can complain. Some parents demand that the school not bother them when their children get sick. They only want their secretary bothered. Parents in expensive privates think of the school as more of the hired help. This is new and my DH, not a school employee, thinks it is a generation that simply has bad manners. I just feel sorry for the children.

[Anonymous]

PITAs are PITAS where ever they go and no matter with whom they are conversing. Or to paraphrase Mike Brady "Where ever they go ... there they are."

[Anonymous]

There are definitely people with whom I agree on substance, but still can't stand to be around or listen to because they can only express things as a constant stream of negativity.

Yes, xyz stinks about the school, and if that were the ONLY crabby thing [the putative] you said to me this conversation/day/week/month, I might actually be interested in talking with you about it. Instead, I find you unbearable and can't wait to be free of the interaction and am trying to get out of it as quickly as possible.

[Anonymous]

EXACTLY!!!!

[Anonymous]

The griping is the result, at least in part, with parental over-investment in the schools. And guess what, it's hard not to feel that way. Personally, I'm spending over $90,000 a year on tuition. That's more than five times my total annual mortgage payments. But when I was a kid and I went to the equivalent of a big three school, my parents barely knew my teachers names. They trusted the school to educate me and send regular report cards home. I'm not innocent of griping. Otherwise, i wouldn't even know about this site. However, I agree, a lot of the griping comes from entitled, self-important parents who think the schools are not living up to their children's standards which is weird way to look at the world.

[Anonymous]

Truly, I"m the exact opposite and though I have many school-related bitch-fests bouncing around in my head, I never unload on other parents, ever. I don't want to be labeled as a Debbie Downer I guess.

Also, frankly, I don't know who I can trust. What if a casual mom acquaintance back stabs me to the admin? etc.

So no, I don't get parents who have dysentery of the mouth regarding school.

[Anonymous]

pp: If you are the exact opposite, why do you visit this site?
and
Also, why are you worried about back stabbing parents and why are you paranoid about the administration.

[Anonymous]

If you have a gripe about your school talk to the school about your concerns. My experience is that parents talk among themselves about things when they don't know all the relevant information that imaginations run wild and guesses and suppositions evolve in to"facts"

No school can tell everyone everything all of the time.

Also, if parent A chooses to discuss their "concerns" about parent B with school admins, more often that is viewed as a poor reflection on the character of parent A

[Anonymous]

It "reflects badly" for parents to talk to each other about problems?

Someone who is always negative will not be welcome anywhere, but talking with other parents about concerns can be very helpful. Parents of older kids can often tell you how (and why) a decision was made before your kid arrived at the school, and can often offer insights about problematic teachers and other issues it might otherwise take a while to identify.

As far as something "reflecting badly," I think that that mindset ignores the fact that I (and most of you reading this) are the customers at these institutions. We do not report to the administration, the administration reports to us.

[Anonymous]

Call her on it. "Oh I'm sorry to hear you're so unhappy. I assume you'll be applying out for another school for next year?"

[Anonymous]

Oh come on. Parents are not allowed to complain about legitimate issues? And if they were indeed legitimate wouldn't you WANT to know about them? One woman told me about her KG child who was left in front of a computer with headphones on for almost an hour. Another woman told me her son's Spanish teacher is actually from Puerto Rico and she was teaching quite a bit of slang Spanish. Other parents have more than one complaint. I never reacted like the OP. I want to know what's going on, the good and the bad.

[Anonymous]

Spanish teacher is actually from Puerto Rico? WTF does that mean? Add that to the list of most obnoxious things people say on this board. And I'm not puerto rican or hispanic. I don't even speak spanish.

[Anonymous]

"Parents in expensive privates think of the school as more of the hired help. This is new and my DH, not a school employee, thinks it is a generation that simply has bad manners."

You and your DH don't know jack. This stuff has been going on for centuries, if not more.

[Anonymous]

There's a spectrum. In some schools, the culture is close to zero tolerance for constructive criticism. There are also super negative parents who complain about and question everything. (My son's friend's father is one of these.)

PP 22:27, my child went to an immersion school and his Spanish teachers were from Spain, Puerto Rico, Cuba (first generation American), Mexico, Peru and Chile and I think there was one from Colombia, too. Most U.S. students learn Spanish of the Americas, not of Spain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spanish teacher is actually from Puerto Rico? WTF does that mean? Add that to the list of most obnoxious things people say on this board. And I'm not puerto rican or hispanic. I don't even speak spanish.

Ditto. Double add that to the list. I've watched a Castillian Spanish language teacher fighting with one from Costa Rica - this is like saying that all ESL instructors must hail from Oxbridge. Get serious!