ARE YOU CRAZY SIR??

This past week I was lucky enough to catch a news segment about a man who threatened a school because his child received bad grades. To you Sir, I ask "ARE YOU CRAZY??"

I am not a parent, but I have parents and I have been a kid. So I feel completely qualified to speak out on this matter.

When I brought home my first "D", my Father's reaction was NOT to call the school and make terrorist type threats. Did a small time bomb go off in my house, yes, yes it did. But that time bomb was for me. Questions were asked. Questions like "What is going on?" "How did this happen?" "What is wrong?" and "How can I help you?"

These Sir are the questions you should have been asking your child. Not threatening to blow up and cause bodily injuries to the staff who is simply doing their job. If your son is failing it is not the teacher's fault entirely and threatening to hurt them just insanity.

What ever happened to checking up on your kids? Did you check his homework every night? Did you sit down with him and help him with his homework? What ever happened to Parent/ Teacher conferences? Did they have one and you just didn't go because you were under some crazy impression that your child is a genius? Or was there a baseball game on that you just couldn't miss? Or maybe it was guys night out at the bar and that certainly is more important than your child's education, right?

What values are you instilling in your child right now? Cause what I just learned from you is the following...that if I don't agree with a certain situation, then I should just make threatening phone calls. VIOLENCE IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER!!!

STOP IT RIGHT NOW!! Skip that Pirate game (they are terrible anyway) and sit down with your child and make sure they are doing what they are supposed to do. Take the time to find out why they are not doing well. Maybe your child has learning disability, maybe they need glasses, maybe they eat so much sugar that makes it impossible for them to concentrate, I don't know, but it is your job to figure it out. YOU ARE THE PARENT, YOU ARE THE EXAMPLE. And right now you are setting a very bad one.

I went to school and I can honestly say that I have had some teachers and professors who were less than overjoyed to be teaching. Which made classes boring and on the whole uninteresting, and how did I pass those classes? I passed because I had parents who took an interest in my learning abilities. They cared about my well being and my future. My parents pushed me to do the best I could do, and trust me I did not make that easy for them. I am the first to admit that I am not the brightest crayon in the box, but you know what with a little positive reinforcement I rose above those "D's" and got okay grades.

Here is an idea instead of threatening the people who only have your child's education in mind, try threatening your child. Do I mean threaten to blow up his/her bedroom or cause them bodily injury, no. I mean take that cell phone, computer, video game system, t.v. and what have you. Stop letting your child stay up until all hours of the morning because the Pirate Game went into extra innings or because a good movie is playing on Lifetime for Women. In still some discipline!!!!

Ask your child if they did their homework and then don't just take their word for it, but actually check it. Sure I hated being asked if I did my homework, and I always said "Yes" or "I don't have any" and then of course on the bus ride to school I was frantically doing my homework or in study hall. But things change when your parents ask that question and then say "Show me." SHOW ME= Fear in the heart of any child who has lied.

The point is instead of threatening, work with the teacher to figure out what the problem is with your child. Work with your child. The answers to your child's poor grade problem might shock you.

Thank you.