I "like" how she commented at the end on how wonderful that open-mic at the library was...Did she think that event "just happened"? Well, no, Boston Globe-lady, someone thought it up and organized it and publicized it and arranged for all the little details...And the person who did all the work was probably a volunteer, or someone who relied on volunteers!

What bugged me about it? Not anything about the parent who wrote it. She felt pressured by her PTO. RATS!
That's really sad I think. As parent organization board members, we are the ones spending so much energy reaching out to our parents.....looking for volunteers.....seeing how we can help students, families, and teachers. I would be saddened to find out that any of these people found our PTA to be representing anything unkind. Seriously sad and frustrated.
I would ask the writer...what can I do to entice you to bring your smile and kindness to our building so that your energy can be better utilized? As a parent, what are your expectations of volunteering? Is it to help in any way you can? Is it to feel warm and fuzzy? Is it to spend more time with your child? Any and all of these are valid reasons. Not all volunteer work in a school is found in the classrooms....yet all of it is time well spent. Giving lunch aides some time off from a very hectic duty, offering the art teacher to help clean brushes, allowing the main office secretary a break from stuffing teacher mailboxes so that she can take care of Kindergarten registrations..... you can make the adults in the building smile too......those smiles will transfer to the students!!!!
-Cathy

I read this article and thought it was sad. To me she seemed like a selfabsorbed parent. Iam not saying that everyone should be PTO president but caring about what goes on at school does impact a kids success. Quit your whinin is what I would say!

The comments sure ran the gamut: attacking teachers/unions, guilt-trips for those who don't help (and even one saying that one parent *must* stay home). I almost commented about how I have a full-time job but am also PTO treasurer, and I help in the classroom (and the last time, I was assigned to help another group because another dad (!) was helping the group both our daughters were in).

But I decided it my comments wouldn't be "interesting" enough.

Wow. I agree with Lisa that this article underscores the importance of matching volunteers with the right opportunity. I love the idea I found through this web site of a Pledge program. What a great way to get parents like this author involved without tying them to a guilt laced long term commitment. I hope that our PTO can institute such a program next year to get more parents through the door.

Thanks for sharing the article! So what did you think of it?

This line really bugged me:

And yet, after decidedly diminishing returns, I doubt I’ll quit. There’s too much pressure to show up, in the form of guilt-inducing exhortations from the PTO — and the pervasive idea that the best parents are intimately involved in their kids’ lives.

Couple of responses to this:

• Parent involvement does matter , any way you slice it. Like anything, there is a range of involvement and that's ok. Bottom line is we do it for our kids.
• Her complaints underscore that it's best to choose a volunteer project that you enjoy and have the time for. Everyone suffers if we don't enjoy what we're doing, including (and most importantly) our kids.
• As Eleanor Roosevelt so aptly put it: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

... Then again, I think this article was written for the sole purpose of stirring things up. I always find the comments after these articles amusing though!
Curious to hear what others thought?

~Lisa



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