Loud parents on Parent Day at schools

I used to go on parent's day at my kid's school and was always shocked that the mothers would line up against the back wall and gossip/talk during the lesson, just really a complete lack of respect for the teacher and the lesson. I had to stop going because I was going to tell them to keep their traps shut sooner or latter.

We've heard a lot about monster parents in the media last few years as well and I'm getting this feeling that some of the lack of respect kids have for their teachers stem from home as well as the problems at school.

Has anybody else noticed this? We live in a pretty afluent neigborhood so it's not the kind of thing I was expecting.

Rube said:

I used to go on parent's day at my kid's school and was always shocked that the mothers would line up against the back wall and gossip/talk during the lesson, just really a complete lack of respect for the teacher and the lesson. I had to stop going because I was going to tell them to keep their traps shut sooner or latter.
We've heard a lot about monster parents in the media last few years as well and I'm getting this feeling that some of the lack of respect kids have for their teachers stem from home as well as the problems at school.
Has anybody else noticed this? We live in a pretty afluent neigborhood so it's not the kind of thing I was expecting.

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Here I will be nice and contribute to your topic. From what I have noticed there is some correlation between the behavior of the kids and the area where they live and the industry around the area. Lots of lower skill jobs areas tend to have kids that are less well behaved (by Japanese standards). I rarely see it in more afluent areas though.

Parents watching during class never bothers me. And I cannot recall a time when their talking was loud or off-putting, but I may not have noticed since my attention was not directed toward them.

Over all, I would not say that this is enough of a concern to really worry about, as mothers/parents talking during those silly 'fake class' days for the parents. I went to all the ones that I could (for all three boys), but realized that it was totally useless an event in most cases.

The education that children will receive at home, will of course be influenced by a lot of things, but I am not convinced at the moment, that the 'emptiness' of Japanese TV programming does not have a fair amont to do with that loss.

EDIT: ps this probably would have been better placed in a different sub-forum rather than Serious Discussions.

That is what always struck me as odd because it is an afluent place, wasn't expecting it. It was as if the paying attention was below them or being quite. I couldn't even hear the lesson over them and although the teacher didn't say anything, you could tell she was annoyed, even some of the kids were annoyed. Could just be the ladies in the neighborhood, they all know each other's ****.

@Rube, this borders more along (sort of) international topics, we see that kind of ignorance a lot in Puerto Rice, the US, and I've also been poking around some other global forums that relate somewhat to this topic... Though I'm afraid there isn't much anyone can do as this transcends through the passing generations and generally cannot be stopped... -.-

I thought about where to stick it but seemed like a serious topic to me.

The schools I went to in America students were always very well behaved during their lessons at least. The occasional spit ball or what have you but a lot of respect for teachers and the class room, is always shocking when I see it here.

Never thought about other countries outside of the States and Japan. Would be interesting to see what are the common themes that produce the different kind of atmopheres in schools.

I don't think there's such a thing as parents' days here in the UK - not in my experience anyway.

I did used to work as a school librarian in a school which had kids from every kind of background. I saw the worst behaviour from the richest children and the poorest.

Some of the rich kids were very spoiled. I think they were used to getting their own way at home, and resented being told what to do at school. Teachers were seen as "poor" and therefore somehow beneath them. These were the children I had most trouble with personally. If they wanted books, their parents could buy them, so I think they saw the library as something to be scorned.

A few of the poorest kids were also often badly behaved, although I didn't personally have as much of a problem with them as I did with the rich kids. There were a couple of kids I can think of whose parents didn't work, and I think the children resented being at school when their parents were at home.

In both these cases I think the attitude came largely from their parents, so I think you're right, Rube, in your assumption that lack of respect comes at least partly from parents. However, I knew other kids whose family backgrounds were very difficult who nevertheless were model students. I think the issue is complicated and that it's nearly impossible to isolate all the factors that determine how a child will behave at school.

Parent day here is where the parents (usually just the mothers) go to sit in on their children's lesson. The class rooms are already crammed with desks so the parents actually just stand in the back of the class and along the walls. There's not much point to it really but the kids seem to like to show their parents so I was cool with it.


授業参観
The parents in this pic is how you would expect it, quietly watching.

Jigyo-sankan had always been my opportunity to check out the teachers--how they teach and how they handle the students. Of course, the teachers and the students are supposed to be on their best behavior, but we can always detect clues (despite fakery) to what they can do and what they can't...

Regarding mothers who are loud during such open house days, they usually aren't interested in their kids' education in my experience. If their children are half-way decent, these moms sure to be thrashed at home by their own kids and maybe by other members of the family after learning what happened.

Personally, I avoid such persons the best I can.

Rube said:

Parent day here is where the parents (usually just the mothers) go to sit in on their children's lesson. The class rooms are already crammed with desks so the parents actually just stand in the back of the class and along the walls. There's not much point to it really but the kids seem to like to show their parents so I was cool with it.
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ﾅｽﾃｶ窶ｹﾃ?ｽQﾅ?ﾃ
The parents in this pic is how you would expect it, quietly watching.

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Haha, they all look incredibly bored and a couple are falling asleep