All parents are required to volunteer time to their children’s schools.

A solid foundation in education is one of the prerequisites for the social and economic development of a nation. Given that United States is no longer number one in the international standardized tests and is lagging behind other nations like Sweden and Singapore, there are growing concerns about the educational experience in the country and efforts are underway to improve the process. Parents, teachers and educational institutions, all play a significant role in raising the educational standards. Considering the various benefits, many people now think that all parents should volunteer time to their children’s schools. I believe that parents should be encouraged to volunteer time in their kids’ schools, but this need not be made mandatory.

In recent times, with the relatively stagnant economic growth, funding for various school activities are limited. If parents could help out the school authorities in these trying times, it would help sustain programs which may otherwise be slashed by budget cuts. Activities could vary from helping students out with school work, or providing sports training or even taking the children out for a fun and educational visit to zoos, parks, museums etc. Even reading a story to a group of young children would be an enjoyable activity. The more involved parents are in school, and the activities there, the more likely their children are going to do well in academic and extracurricular activities. It also helps to buttress the parent- teacher and parent-child relationships, which in turn creates a better educational environment for children. 

Can all parents volunteer time for schools? There are times when this might not be possible. Families with financial hardship may be juggling different jobs and may have no time off for volunteer work. Single parents may  find it difficult to balance work, child rearing and find it difficult to participate in voluntary activities. Adults with significant medical conditions for obvious reasons may be unable to contribute to the system. Also there are situations in which the parents who are in charge do not behave responsibly– they may be addicted to drugs, may not exhibit any interest in the child and some of them could be abusive too. In such scenarios, it’s hard to expect them to turn up for any volunteer activity.

In summary, I do believe that parents should show active interest in school work and they should be encouraged to participate in various voluntary activities. However, it might not be practical to make  their participation mandatory.