Prompt 5

I have noticed a major difference in rural schools to inner-city schools. Because I went to a rural public school all my life, I constantly compare it to Charlotte Woods Elementary. A competent teacher will definitely try to get parents proactive in the school community. In Scituate, it was easy to get parents' participation in the school programs whether it was volunteering, PTA, or even just meeting with the teachers to see how well their child is doing. After speaking to Mrs. Caliri (my SL teacher), it is like "pulling teeth" to get parents active in their child's academic life. This is definitely not speaking for everyone obviously, however, the majority. I think this is because in inner-city classrooms, many of the children come large families and maybe the parent cannot participate because they are too busy with the other children. Some parents are even incarcerated. In my own opinion, after reading certain articles (Kozol in particular), many parents of inner city students are drug users - again, I am not saying ALL parents. Drug users put their addiction ahead of anything else which is very sad especially if they are in a large family. These are all contributing factors as to why a teacher may have difficulty getting a parent or a guardian's participation in their child's academics and/or behavior. This also may be why some children look at their teacher as a mother/father figure and/or role model.