GREENWOOD, Ind. — During this legislative session in the Indiana Statehouse, there has been a lot of talk about the role of schools and the role of parents in a child's education.
Many parents have said they feel like the lines are sometimes blurred when schools begin to step in and work with kids on their emotional skills.
WTHR Education Expert Jennifer Brinker explained what schools are experiencing Sunday morning with 13Sunrise anchor Dustin Grove.
Dustin Grove: What is your response to parents who say, “Your job is just to teach the kids content, not parent them for us”?
Mrs. Brinker: I agree 100% that, in an ideal world, that would be all our role is required to be. You as parents are the first and most important teachers that your child will ever have. The truth of the matter is that kids are coming to us with weaker emotional intelligence than they need in order to be successful. We cannot possibly just focus on teaching academic content to kids, but when you have so many students who are either neglected, not having basic needs met, being babysat by devices instead of spoken to, or suffering abuse, we don’t have the luxury of jumping right into teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic.
For many years, a number of issues have been present. Teachers have been providing meals, clothes, and comfort for students further back than any of us have been around. But schools have tried to more systematically offer help for kids and work on teaching students how to emotionally regulate themselves in hopes of improving their wellness so that they are able to learn all of those content standards. If a child is not able to manage their emotions, they will not be able to perform well in the classroom or eventually in the workplace.
The other part would be to question whatever happened to the idea of “it takes a village to raise a child”? Some of these parents who get so infuriated when a school refers to students as “our kids” sure would want us to take care of them as if they were our own if there was an emergency situation in the building or if they were in some other sort of danger. This is once again a situation where educators are feeling that constant pull of, we doing too much or too little.
Dustin Grove: What can parents do to address this "emotional intelligence" issue at home?
Mrs. Brinker: I would say that starts from the moment they are born at home. Emotional intelligence is the ability to express and manage your feelings appropriately while respecting the feelings of others. Help them name their feelings and don’t be dismissive. Even if you think they are being dramatic, try to be empathetic. Be good role models yourself (because) they are always watching. Teach your child healthy coping skills like breathing activities or creating calming kits. You can find those online.
Jennifer Brinker is Assistant Principal at Greenwood Middle School and regularly appears on 13Sunrise on Sunday mornings.