Reply to Talk to me about PTAs

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]You don't need to get involved for the well being of your child. Donate when you can, turn up for class activities / field trips when you can. Go to parent-teacher evenings.

The PTA is full of really pushy moms with troubled kids who think if they are in some position of influence they can protect their kids and / or get them extra resources they need / keep them out of trouble. Crazy mommies of crazy kids, I am not joking.

I was so glad when my kids got to HS and we didn't have to deal with any PTA crap any more. I just ignored it all, as much as possible.[/quote]

Generalize much? Jeez. As a former elementary school PTA president, I assure I didn’t take on the role to get my child extras, or protection. In fact, just the opposite - [b]I was always careful to make sure my child was treated the exact same as every other student because I didn’t want the appearance of favoritism. 
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To the original poster, you should do as little or as much as you feel comfortable with. I would definitely donate to whatever fundraising drive your PTA does - you can ask what a typical donation amount is if they don’t suggest an amount - and then, if you want, start with small volunteer jobs. At my school the Teacher Appreciation committee was a great way to get involved. It was kind of easy and the teachers really enjoyed it. Every school is different though, so you can also just see what happens this year and then jump into volunteering next year. [/quote]

How did you ‘make sure’ your child was treated the exact same way as every other student?

There are PTA volunteers that just want to make the school a better place. You, on the other hand, do come across as pompous.

You just brought up two of the most annoying things about PTA’s. The teacher appreciation, aka gift and/or lunch buying for the teachers, and the incessant soliciting for donations.

How about you let the teachers buy their own meals, like most professionals that get paid for the work they do. The drive for donations is more strident in elementary grades, and as the time goes most parents realize PTA’s are just the means to supplement school budgets for programs that rarely make a difference. Stuff like ‘mental health counseling’ or ‘reading and math intervention’ etc. Most of the time the issue is not money, actual parent involvement and volunteering is far more valuable for the benefit of the students.

For the OP I’d suggest finding something that you care about, like being the soccer team coach, or organizing the science fair etc. Work with the PTA to find like minded people that care about the same, but also realize that on occasion you might have to deal with those insufferable PTA moms that crave attention, social recognition and validation of their own self worth.
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