Rambling #2- Open communication with school…good or bad?

In my previous post I had mentioned about Namnam’s teacher messaging me to come and pick her up as she wasn’t feeling well. This happened a few days ago. In no time I had rushed to fetch her from school and bring her home. Let me add that earlier in the day a couple of messages had already been exchanged between us as Namnam was anyway feeling a bit under the weather when she left home.  So I had to make sure that she was okay. Hence the constant communication.

Its at times like this that I feel immensely grateful for the school’s open communication policy. From the very day the school opened its gates to us, we have been given to understand that parents/guardians would have all possible access to our kids’ school and their teachers. At the first orientation programme, Namnam’s teacher had even shared her phone number and her email id assuring us that we could stay connected with her anytime of the day.

If I hadn’t had that direct contact with the teacher, I would have probably been hyperventilating at home, feeling guilty for sending my sick child to school, feeling utterly helpless even and wondering about her health. But because I had free access to the teacher, I could easily check on my child.

And I’m sure the teacher is just as accessible and supportive with other parents as she is with me. I have seen parents waiting outside the class, every other day for a little chit-chat with the teacher getting the required feedback about their wards and discussing their concerns. The school allows the parents to approach them at anytime for any concerns whatsoever. And as a parent I completely welcome this policy. Its quite reassuring to say the least. So if one is to ask me to weigh the pros and cons out of this policy I, as a parent would tilt the scale in favour of pros since I have only benefited from such a policy so far.

Personally, I like the idea of teachers sharing their contact with the parents because I feel it is always better to have direct access to the particular teacher who’s responsible for your child’s well being and safety for a good part of the day than waiting for the school to connect you to him/her.

Now I understand such an open policy can have adverse implication too if misused. And that is the only con, per se, that I can see coming out of this system. Parents may tend to take such generous services for granted. For instance, with teachers’ numbers out in the open, its every bit possible for the parents to call them at ungodly hours to discuss some frivolous issues of their child. But these are minor elements which I feel can be done away with if parents and teachers set boundaries and respect each other’s space. The teacher can always choose not to entertain any calls or messages after the school hours if he/she feels they aren’t urgent enough to be addressed. And the parents can/should always choose not to take undue advantage of the facilities that are made available to them.

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