What happened in the schools?

It all started with a report done on Who, with reporter Dan Winters. Violence in the class rooms, to fed up teachers and so on.

Now don't get me wrong, throwing object at educator is something I will never condone.

However, I read the social media posts and wanted to cry. Seeing comments such as "send them home there is no such thing as mental illness" "These kids need to be beat" "these are bad parents there is no such thing as a bad teacher." I could break down each one of those comments and debate them, but I'll save you the trouble.

That night, I could not sleep. I thought about my temperamental child who suffers from mental illnesses to the parent meeting at the elementary school which seemed more like a war of parental opinions then a welcoming forum. Something needs to be done. Whatever happend to parents and teachers having a relationship beyond the email or negitive communication. What happened to the involvement, did time just become so non existent that we don't have an room to be involved? Not just for a troubled child, but any of them.

I personally spent over half the year at my childs school, not because I wanted to, but I had to. I learned a lot from that. I learned there are a lot of kids with issues, I learned some kids feel they need negitive attention because they aren't able to comprehend positive attention.

The thing I realized the most is why arent we at the school for more events more involvement, some say its money it's just not there. Others say this generation sees school as daycares. The one that hit me the hardest, the schools don't want us there.

Wow. That's the impression some schools are giving parents. "yikes!" Somewhere we have built a negitive relationship of us against them. It's not healthy when we all want the same goals.

So I decided to bribe a few friends with Smokey Row Coffee and next thing I know, we are collaborating with a school outreach coordinators and having meetings that involve coffee or food and discussion. Getting teachers input along with communites near Marshalltown and all over Des Moines has been a very important task but welcomed the feedback.

I am now one of the founders for a group called Bridging the gaps or BTG-C it was on accident but sometimes your put in a position to make a change and you go for it.

If your school still has a PTA/PTO and you feel like you want to duck and cover, consider even just listening and think about the ways you can support the system even if it's just a small amount of time. If just one parent or person is seen building a relationship in a positive way, more will follow.

I challenge you to be that leader so others can follow and make the world a better place in different ways. One person at a time. These kids, they depend on us to set the examples. Let's get that back.