Advice from Harvard

When Harvard University speaks, the world usually listens. Their Latin motto is VERITAS, after all, testifying to the fact that Harvard generally tries to get at and speak the truth.

A report called Raising Teens from the Harvard School of Public Health can be downloaded in a pdf file for parent use. It is full of common sense charts and suggestions that any parent would come up with, if only he/she had the time, resources, and energy to do the same research.

But, one particular piece of the report caught my eye in a chart under a section titled "Provide and Advocate." Aye, there's the rub, as Hamlet says. We can't all provide at the same level, nor are many parents able to advocate effectively for their children. Many parents break out in a cold sweat when they walk into a school, still suffering the after-effects of their own public school experience.

In high poverty areas, schools would do well to find ways to make Harvard's suggestions available for all parents, not just affluent ones, namely:

1. Network within the community. Most poor parents do not have an effective social networking means within the community to move beyond where they are. They can maintain, but getting their children help seems so insurmountable that adversarial relationships are often formed, preventing the very thing they want for their children. Schools should help parents - all of them - form network connections.

2. Make informed decisions. Nothing could be harder when you don't have all the information. According to the report, parents should make informed decisions about everything that affects their teen, from the school social climate to community cohesion and the match between the child's learning style and the school that best fits it. If only everyone had that option. Schools can help parents get that information, however, by sponsoring parent universities and sending home informational pamphlets from time-to-time.

3. Make similarly informed decisions about neighborhoods, community involvement and youth programs. Schools could join city neighborhood coalitions, especially in high poverty areas, forming alliances between neigborhoods and youth programs. Parents don't always have control over the neighborhood in which they must rent, but they can be helped in finding the best property they can afford within the best school district.

4. Arrange for preventative health care. Teens need their eyes checked, teeth cleaned, cavities filled. All parents should see to it that their children's health is maintained, but we know that is not the case. Schools cannot solve this one alone, but many have established health clinics on site.

5. Identify people and programs to inform you. Unfortunately, parents are often reticent to ask for help or don't know how. Again, schools can develop some public relations campaigns to help inform parents about topics as diverse as parenting challenges and how to handle them or the prescribed reading list for 10th grade. Leveling the parental competencies can help promote high expectations for all students and build a school culture in which all the participants can thrive.

For fear of being labeled a socialist, I do assert that we should not allow the government or any political institution to take over the raising of our children (as we have obviously been doing, anyway, with No Child Left Behind). But, isn't the point of public education to equalize the playing field through the dissemination of knowledge to all? Rather than continue the dumbing down process, it's time to start raising up the standard. Read Harvard's free download, Raising Teens, for more information.
-----------------Melony