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Influence Of Parents: Influence of parents of persons other than parents. Persons other than parents, brothers, and sisters may have a major Influence of parents on the development of children. Since most fathers are away at work, and about half the mothers, too, are gainfully employed, grandmother and grandfather may take an active part in bringing up the children, especially if there is a housing shortage. Grandparents may help or hinder. They come in handy when there are no baby sitters.
In these circumstances, parents who are more confident, or perhaps angrier, have often taken matters into their own hands. Parents from minority backgrounds have inaugurated and supported supplementary schools to maintain their own language and culture or, more importantly, to redress their children's perceived educational disadvantage within'the state system. In the period from the end of the Second World War until the Education Act 1981, many parents whose children had special educational needs fought the system which denied them Influence of parents or choice in where their children were sent to school.
In those areas where parents do not feel confident and have other priorities, or where community issues cut across those of the school, then the ability of parents to work with the teachers is curtailed and relations can become hostile. Even in schools with good parental support, the annual meeting to discuss the governors' report to parents is generally noted as an occasion when governors outnumber parents. Lowe (1997, pp. 160-1) documents graphically the effect of increased parental Influence of parents in schools: |
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