Parents have to support school obligations - but many neglect the basics

After their children start school, some parents are surprised to hear what demands and requests the schools place on them. They should practice reading with the children every day, bake cakes for parties, get shoe boxes for crafts or take them swimming.

Even in higher grades, parents cannot simply opt out of their children's school matters. On the contrary: they are even obliged by law to cooperate with schools. What this means for parents - and what is the problem from the teachers' perspective.

The legal basis

Parents have a duty to support the school's educational work and to ensure that their children conscientiously fulfill their school obligations. This is anchored in the law in Bavaria. Accordingly, school and parents share responsibility for the academic success and personal development of young people.

For parents, this specifically means that they must ensure that their offspring attends classes and has the necessary work equipment available, as the Ministry of Culture explains. “Participating in parents’ evenings or supporting support measures also form important bridges between family and school.” But that alone is not enough if a child is to have success and enjoy school.

The practice

Many parents support their children's educational journey with great commitment - sometimes too much, keyword: helicopter parents. But at the same time, teachers across the board are noticing that the proportion of parents who are not caring enough is increasing. "Overall, there is a higher level of demands from parents - partly out of helplessness, partly out of the demand: You are the state, do it!", says the President of the Bavarian Teachers' Association (BLLV), Simone Fleischmann.

The primary and middle school teachers organized in the association are increasingly observing that basic parental obligations are being neglected: for example, that the child goes to bed on time in the evening and gets up on time in the morning, that he or she gets breakfast, takes a snack and a drink to school or has sun protection with him. «These are things where we can't help. We can’t buy lunch for 26 children, we can’t have 26 caps with us and we can’t have 26 pairs of shoes on the day of the hike,” emphasizes Fleischmann.

What begins on a small scale continues on a large scale: Parents sometimes only come to learning development discussions, which replace certificates in certain constellations, after repeated requests or multiple failures to appear, says Andrea Zran. She is the vice-chairwoman of the BLLV in the Munich district and head of a primary school in Haar. “Something like that used to be unthinkable.” The majority of parents no longer read letters, even though the app used translates the messages into all possible languages.

The inaction continues for some in educational matters. “I have the feeling that the parents are surrendering and capitulating to the challenges,” says Zran, referring to the nightly social media consumption even among the youngest children. “It’s such a totally disorganized everyday life: no routines, no rituals, no structures, and laissez-faire in many areas.”

Socially difficult circumstances and neglect of wealth

Families in difficult living conditions are often affected. When a parent is missing, financial worries are pressing or mental illnesses dominate everyday life, parental involvement takes a back seat for many people. Sometimes there are simply misunderstandings, for example if the family comes from a country with different cultural practices.

According to experts, children whose parents have had little education themselves and therefore do not attach great importance to school performance are also affected. And there are the “wealthy people” who live in material abundance but whose families lack emotional ties.

Eye level is crucial for good parenting

All of this has a negative impact on the behavior and school performance of children and young people. In order to give them the best possible conditions, parental work is the be-all and end-all for Florian Schmidt. “The most important thing is that a conversation takes place, and at eye level,” emphasizes the principal of Munich’s largest middle school on Rockefellerstrasse.

His door opener: He emphasizes in every conversation that he, like the parents themselves, wants the best for their child. “Then the parents usually react insightfully and very openly.” If there are language barriers, it also helps enormously to have an interpreter. Only in about one in 100 families is he unable to get access to the parents, says Schmidt.

But this parental work is time-consuming and resources are scarce, not only in times of teacher shortages. Schmidt therefore demands: “We need more manpower in schools, more multi-professional teams made up of teachers, school social work and school psychologists.” There is no other way to do better in performance tests like the Pisa study in the future. Especially since current social trends are continuing and the tasks of schools are likely to increase.