Parents who teach and the kids who resent them

By Brett Eversole
Van High School

Can you imagine going to school and having your mother or father there with you? Or going to class and seeing a parent writing the day’s assignments on the board? What would it be like to have a parent at school, keeping an eye on your every move?

Most kids have never experienced this, but for students whose parents are teachers, this may be the case. For the past two years, I have attended the same school where my mother is not only a teacher but also my teacher.

Most students probably would agree that this would not be a very pleasant experience.

“Having one of my parents at school would be terrible. I wouldn’t be able to get away with anything,” said Van High School senior Justin Cox. “Plus, my friends would have many jokes to tell about my mommy or daddy being at school with me.”

Teenagers can be rebellious in their high school years, and having a parent working in the school environment can increase chances of teens taking that rebellious attitude too far. I can say from personal experience that I have a tendency to act out more often in the class that my mother teaches than in other classes.

As Scott High School freshman Sydnee Kuhn, whose mother used to be a teacher, can attest to, having a parent at school can be both a good and bad thing.

“With your mom or dad at school with you, you definitely get out of class a lot,” she said. “They always have money or anything you need, but they also have high expectations for your academics.”

From personal experience, I would say that having a parent as your teacher is not something to be desired. Believe me, no special help is given to you for being the teacher’s son. In fact, it actually becomes harder because you have to overcome the stereotype that you do not earn your grades, that they are given to you by your parent.

I get no extra help at home either, nor, I would imagine, do other children of teachers. Teachers have a code of ethics that they follow, and no student — no matter what the relationship to the teacher — will be favored.