Meddling parents
How we raise our children does not just affect them, but also has an impact on how our society will function a few years down the line. I recently asked a veteran educator who has worked in the public school system for years to describe the biggest and most absurd challenge he has had to deal with more recently. “Parents who meddle and try to influence their children’s teachers,” he replied in no uncertain terms. He went on to recount all sorts of incredible incidents, from all-out threats and bribes with gifts, to efforts to bring in politicians with clout. He insisted that the phenomenon has gotten out of hand and that a significant portion of parents seem oblivious to the fact that their child’s education is at stake.
I had a similar conversation with the head of a private school that has educated many generations of well-off young Greeks. He said that parents who interfere with the work of the school’s teachers blatantly and without compunction was one of the biggest problems he had to deal with too. The scale was a bit different at this school compared to the public schools, with parents competing over who would give a teacher the most expensive gift or with pressure being exerted by very influential political figures for things like improving a grade or not expelling pupils who were not making the marks needed to remain in such a competitive educational environment. In some instances, the meddling parents even went as far as taking legal recourse to challenge a grade or a decision by the school.
How can a society possibly embrace the principles of meritocracy when parents behave in such a manner? What’s worse, this kind of behavior has become acceptable, even routine. In the schools educating the country’s elite, in particular, this twisted mentality has chipped away at the fundamental principle that all students are treated equally regardless of who their parents are.
What does this accomplish? For one, it encourages youngsters to develop expectations that they may not have the aptitude to live up to, not to mention cultivating the belief that this is how you get what you want in life. It creates a mentality that stunts ambition, that prevents life’s hard lessons from being learned, that leads to a false sense of confidence – and that will come back to bite us in the future.
I recently read a book that explains why Israel has become such a hub of entrepreneurship and innovation: The reason is that youngsters in Israel grow up with dealing with risk and major challenges. That is the opposite of Greek youngsters whose parents do everything in their power to secure them the easiest possible ride, at school, in their military service, everywhere.
