What are your thoughts on supporting student moms? At this point in my life/career I feel that communities should support these student moms. If we can help these students become good parents and valuable members of the community then we have made a positive impact on many levels. I know that all of this takes money and support from schools and communities but the benefits would far out weigh the negatives. The idea of counting a student unexcused for being at a doctors appointment seems crazy to me. If we want them in school then we might have to think outside the box and be flexible with some of the rules and expectations we place on students. We can have our personal feelings about the fact that they are pregnant in the first place but the main focus becomes how do we help them and their baby.
I'm also going to give links to 2 other articles I found interesting. These are not part of the must read by the way but they caught my attention.
The first is a blog about valuing our children and their education and the second is about pre-service teachers cheating on exams.
I hope everyone had a great break and was able to spend time with family and friends. It was so nice to take a step back from everything and just focus on family. I'm thankful that I have family and friends that are supportive of my decision to begin this masters program. I'm also very thankful for my health. Recently, I've had two people very close to me be diagnosed with cancer and it really makes me realize how lucky I am that I am healthy and that my husband and children are healthy.
ReplyDeleteI think it is imperative to support student moms.
To not excuse doctors appointments is harsh and devalues the entire process. Compounding a stressful situation. Again, it makes me think at how schools were designed...that being to produce good workers and good workers don't miss time off or if they do it results in a decrease in productivity.
Equally important is the lack of emphasis on supporting student dads. They also should play a role in the development of their soon to be child. I think they many times take an non-supportive role or at best covert due in part to the way society addresses the situation. These young dads deserve to also have time and support to become the best at parenting and continue their education.
Our country in my opinion doesn't value giving parents the amount of time away from their careers that is vital for child parent. I have friends in both Germany and Italy that have been given 1+ years by law away from their careers.
If theses students can do well in school with the added responsibility of caring for their child and truly want to learn why are we putting up these roadblocks to deter them from coming to school? We can't treat everyone the same way. Different circumstances must result in varied expectations. Not necessarily making it easier but altering it for flexibility.
ReplyDeleteJenny, Glad you enjoyed time with family during Thanksgiving break! It's so nice to be home and having fun with kids. And, yes, we do have so much to be thankful for! I was impressed by the determination of the young mom. I commend the school that supported her. Supporting these young moms in their pursuit for education can have a huge pay off to society. However, I wish we would do more as a society to educate our youth about the benefits of abstinence (not to sound like a stick in the mud). Providing them with protection isn't necessarily the best option, which has been proven. We would be doing more of a service to teenage girls by educating them on abstinence, and provide them with a quality education to be able to pursue their goals and dreams.
ReplyDeleteI think that all of you have brought up great points. Supporting student dads is just as important as supporting the moms. Thanks for all of your comments. I didn't realize that there was already a must read this week. See everyone tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting article. Do you think that some of "our" reluctancy to support mom's stems from the way that pregnant mothers used to be treated or looked at "back in the day"? I agree that in order to make the parents and the child both successful, we must provide the needed supports to the parent to continue/finish their education, as well as support their child.
ReplyDeleteThis article reminds me that we really do need to remind ourselves that our job is to provide what is best for our students. We need to support them in any way that we can. Teen mothers (and fathers) definitely need the support that education can provide them. Sometimes it seems that our society puts rules in place to only make life more difficult with no real reason to support it. Great read.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely have a stigma regarding sex in this country, and abstinence policies dominate K-12 curriculum, but much like Angela's video post from a week back, our basic conception of school spaces should be altered to accomodate parents with children. I wonder what happens to pregnant students in McPherson and Newton?
ReplyDelete