Parent Shaming at the school level…..

Parent Shaming

Has anyone ever made you feel like the worst parent ever? I am sure as soon as your baby was born, there has been one time where someone made you feel inadequate as a parent.

A few years ago I spoke about parent shaming on social media. Here is a part 2 to that article. Parent shaming at the school level…

This type of parent shaming starts at the baby level.. do I or don’t I send my child to daycare? The struggle is real. With some parents it’s a no brainer, they work and child must go and some are home with their kids. Either way you do what you need to do for your family. No matter what, our society will still shame you on either decision. You must do what is best for your family and that’s it.

Now comes Elementary school. It starts with the comparisons: ” My child can count to 30 and speak 3 languages and write 20 words. What can your child do? ” This stage is huge in building your child and teaching them about bullying and how wrong it is. Yet the parents are the bigger bullies and kids learn from their parents.

I am currently in the phase of registering my daughter for High School. Registration for high school is way different then it was when I was in school. There are tons of programs to choose from and each school offers something different. First step, is in grade5 in the month of May, the students (by choice) take an exam to see if they qualify for the IB (
International Baccalaureate) Program and any other specialty programs that require an entrance test. We chose NOT to send our daughter for the exam as we know our child, this program is not for her. But I still got numerous comments from parents in all grades- ” You are Not sending her for the IB exam?” with that look of disgust and judgement. All I want to say to them is ” WTH is it to you what we decide to do for my child?” With so much pressure in schools, why can’t kids just go to school and learn and not be segregated into these programs where this side is the “Smart people” and this side is the “regular people” ? As a parent, it’s so frustrating! The fear iof your child being bullied cause she is not in the “smart” class is what I am dreading. Thankfully, we have brought up a smart, independant, strong girl who will stand up for herself and anyone she cares about. Sure there are repercussions for that too. Snitch, tattle tale, all things she has already been called because she stood up to bullies when someone else couldn’t. It’s so important to teach our kids that we should stand up for what is right NOT because they will look bad or be segragated for doing so. Looking forward to what high school will bring us next year and also scared at what social media, peer pressure, hormones etc will do to my child. I hope she can continue to be a strong, independent girl that I brought her up to be.

So with all that being said.. will this parent Shaming/ bullying ever stop? With social media in full play, I almost think it’s going to get worse before it ever gets better.