Parental Involvement and Children

Contrary to recent articles and books by Judith R. Harris indicating otherwise, because of their dependency on the adults in their lives, children will always be effected by their parents (Azar, 2000). After all, "parents are a child's first and most important teachers" (Fuentes, Cantu, & Stechuk, 1996, p. 16). The question is, however, how will they be effected and to what degree. For this reason, parental involvement in all areas of the child's life, from helping with homework, to getting to know their friends, to understanding how the parents can participate in the school, is crucial in the development of a healthy and well-adjusted child. Frank Furstenberg, Jr.(1999), in an article about society and the family, asserts that it is not so much the structure of the family in question that is important as is the fact that the parents, or primary caregivers can "occupy a stable presence in the child's life, are competent care givers, [and] are willing to invest resources in the child (Furstenberg, Jr., 1999, p. 31).

Sometimes this involvement means getting outsid

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g documentation Another reason that parental involvement is important is that "the quality of the home environment is the most critical indicator of educational success" (McDonough, 1995, p. 2). Barbara Pape (1999) points out that in education programs that are designed to involve parents, disadvantaged students' achievements not only improve, but reach levels that are standard for children from middle class backgrounds (p. 48). Furthermore, research indicates that parents "who are involved in their child's academic life have a profound effect on the child's ability to learn an helps instill in them an appreciation for learning that can last a lifetime" (p. 48). Some of this may be because educators tend to hold higher expectations for students whose parents collaborate with their teacher (Pape, 1999). Belief System 3 - with supporting documentation A third reason that parental involvement is so essential in the upbringing of a child, is the influence that the parent may have on helping the child deal with outside influences such as peer pressure and challenges to his or her value system. According to NEA Today (1998), most studies show a sharp drop in parental involvement between elementary school and middle school. This i
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Approximate Word count = 1227
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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