Reader Question: How Do I Get My Parents to Keep a Safe Distance from My School Life?

Answer #1 to the above question from Michael Weston in Burn Notice. . .

However, as a teacher of gifted students, I hear this a lot from my students. They think their parents are hovering just a little too close. I had a number of students who were in my gifted program only because their parents wanted them there and it didn't end there. Every moment was monitored. Every grade interrogated. Every flash of unhappiness resulted in a trip to demand "what for?" to the principal (often leap-frogging over the heads of teachers).

When it comes to our kids, we need to be in control. Our job is to make sure nothing bad happens to them. But it's not our only job. We can also teach them to fly on their own. First, we've got to give them wings. No one says you have to walk away like the loggerhead turtle does after she lays her eggs, never to see her babies again. But mama loggerhead is acting from instinct. She knows what her babies can handle. She leaves them, but they know to follow the light to the sea.

We can be the light for our children without blinding them!