Parent Pride is sometimes irrational, uncompromising and, at times, just plan nasty. Parent Pride is the most difficult thing for a teacher to find a solution to in the field of education.
What Is Parent Pride
When I talk about Parent Pride I am talking about when a parent raises a concern with a teacher, principal or coach about their child and the words the parent uses sound like it is in the best interest of their child, but the parent is more worried about their reputation than the wellbeing of their child.
It usually happens on the sidelines of every peewee sport from tee-ball to basketball. Those parents who push their child and take it out on the coach when their child isn’t a starter or playing right field. While this is all too common in sports it happens in the classroom and parent teacher conferences.
Most of the time when Parent Pride strikes, the child who the parent is “standing up for” understands why the teacher, principal or coach made that choice. Which is what makes Parent Pride all the worse, because they are pushing their child to do something they might not want to do in an unhealthy and potentially embarrassing way.
How To Stop Parent Pride
Most of you reading this will not fall victim to the clutches of Parent Pride. Simply because you are reading this and that shows that you are aware and in tune to ways that you can be the best parent of your child.
The easiest way to avoid it is when a teacher, principal or coach makes a decision you are unhappy with take a moment to try to consider all the variables in the equation. Maybe your child really wasn’t the best that day and the teacher had to make the call for what was best for the entire class.
Courage Is The Key
The best way to ensure that you don’t have to take time to defend your child from a coach, principal or teacher from making a decision that you know is influenced by another parent’s pride is to is to stop Parent Pride from getting to them.
You’ve been to games, concerts, awards ceremonies where you have heard other parents complain and say they are going to set so and so straight. Be an ally to your child’s school and use your personal relationships with other families to help explain why a decision was made.
If you calm the flames of Parent Pride before it reaches the school it will prevent it from spreading like wildfire. Because once one parent uses their pride to push out other children some parents will feel the only way to give their kid a fair shake is to fight fire with fire.
In the end when you fight fire with fire you will only have a pile of ashes a great structure once stood.