Impact of lack of parental involvement on students

A parent’s participation in a child’s education plays a significant role. Every child’s first learning starts at home, developing their basic sense of knowledge to navigate the world. Parents teach some of the basic values, fundamentals, discipline and skills used in our daily lives and significantly influence children’s learning and behaviour. A child first observes and learns from their parents, and parental involvement greatly benefits the kids in their academics and everyday lives.

If there is a lack of parental participation, the students are not interested in their studies. It instils in children the belief that school work and assignments are not beneficial to them, resulting in academic failure. It reduces their chances of motivation and affects their physical and mental well-being. And the children can also face hesitation when they face any difficulty or uncertainty.

How does a lack of parental involvement affect student growth?

• Improve the learning perspective of students: Children who have supportive parents develop a good mindset towards their learning, discipline and motivation. They guide the child at home; it has been noticed that students are also more likely to enjoy school. It increases the chances of academic success. But the students who lack parental involvement can affect their intellectual and mental growth, negatively affecting their self-esteem.
• Provides better rate of academic success: Parental involvement in child education provides the parents with a better understanding of the school curriculum, course and activities. They learn about the quality of education their child receives and their academic performance. It enables the students to improve their performance and develops confidence in them.
• Enhanced Classroom Behaviour: Parental involvement puts positive attitudes and behaviour on students, whereas the lack of disengagement of parents has a harmful and disruptive impact on students. When students are monitored at home for their behaviour, they behave appropriately in school, pay more attention in the classroom, and finally perform better in their studies.
• Provides initial learning: Parents teach the child some moral values and skills, which helps them build the coping tool for a successful life. In the absence of early education, it becomes difficult to adjust to school life, and the child faces many difficulties.
• Enables communication between parents and students: Parental involvement enhances the communication skills between parents and students so that the parents can easily understand their children’s difficulties and support them in overcoming them. They will learn about their achievements and failures.

Strategies for parental involvement in schools

• Regularly communicate with them: Try communicating with parents through social media or meetings. When the parents understand what the school expects and what they must do to increase their child’s performance and growth, they will be more inclined to take the required steps.
• Indulge the parents in workshops and training: webinars engage the parents in face-to-face interactions, which creates a space for comfort and flexibility. The teacher can have face-to-face interaction regarding the discussion. Workshops for parents on various topics enable them to have a better understanding of a lot of things, which in turn also affect the way they interact and assist their children with homework.
• Encourage parents to volunteer and host the events: event ideas include “technology night,” where teachers can discuss the online curriculum that students are learning in classrooms so that parents can better understand their child’s learning.