Enhancing parent-teacher communication may help improve misbehavior in Valley students
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All Valley students are back in class, and some of them are having a hard time adjusting.
Student behavior is creating conflict between teachers and parents, with each blaming the other for kid's poor behavior.
"I get a call every day. Every day about my child," Donna Independent School District parent Rosa Tapia said.
Tapia is getting those calls from her son's kindergarten teacher. She says he suffers from oppositional defiant disorder, which causes him to be uncooperative, defiant, and hostile toward peers, parents, teachers and other authority figures.
"Of course my child is difficult to work with, but I mean you have to be patient," Tapia said.
She believes teachers need to communicate and understand what causes some problems.
"Find out what triggers them, what's going on. Did he have lunch? Did something happen? Is he being bullied? They don't communicate that well, and we don't know the whole story, they only tell us what our child did wrong," Tapia said.
She wants teachers to stop placing the entire blame on parenting.
At home isn't the problem, it's when they come into classrooms, like Emmy Chavez's.
She's taught elementary for 23 years. She says the most stressful part about her job is dealing with parents of challenging kids.
"We need the teachers to do their job academically. We need the parent's support for them to be taught before even going to school," Chavez said.
Chavez says teachers cannot give all their attention to one child when there are 20 other students needing to be taught.
She also wants her fellow teachers to understand trouble students could be dealing with challenges at home.
As a licensed professional, counselor Dr. Maria Quilantan-Diaz sees patients with those type of challenges.
"I don't think parents get up in the morning and say, how can I create a behavioral issue for my child? I think all parents are well-intended," Dr. Quilantan-Diaz said.
Dr. Quilantan-Diaz says one of the main factors that can cause behavioral issues in students is screen time.
Dr. Quilantan-Diaz, Chavez and Tapia all agree, instead of parents and teachers placing the blame on each other, they should work on communication and patience to help students.
Watch the video above for the full story.
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