Do You Hear What I Hear?

We hear a lot about how much kids are irresponsible, doing drugs, not going to school, anything negative we hear a lot about when it comes to our children. But what part are we playing in all this negativity. I was listening to a radio program this morning, and the children were speaking on the lack of parents listening to what they have to say. Now don't get me wrong I come from the children should be seen and not heard era, and I've raised my children up in the same manner. But with a twst! I have actually allowed my children to have an opinion, and in the right setting they are allowed to express their opinions. I'm not talking about disrespect, I'm talking about a child needing to me know how they feel when something has gone wrong during their day. Perfect example is my 16 year old daughter, and her french teacher. We will leave out names, because they are unimportant. But her teacher has been in the school system long enough to teach three of my nine chilren french. And she has progressively gotten worse. So I get notes via email saying how my daughter doesn't turn in her homework, how she needs to improve. So I take the responsible road and discuss this with my daughter, and we get her set up with tutoring. I take it a step further and I monitor her homework, make sure she does all of her assignments, and that they get turned in. Now my daughter cares about her education, her intention is to go to college to a degree in social work. She knows that there is no way to get there without an education, so college is her next course of action after high school. And she is not one of our typical problem children that come from a poor family, a ghetto neighborhood, neglectful parent(s), none of the typical stereotypes. Two weeks later I am getting more emails saying the same thing, she needs to work harder, she needs to improve, etc. My daughter has explained to me about the teacher, her behavior in class, and that she is not the only one having a problem with this teacher. I later find out through investigation that she was absolutely right. My boys had to remind me of this teacher, and I remember staying up late at night with one of my sons studying for this class. Thank GOD I studied French when I was in high school! My point is I gave my daughter the benefit of the doubt, and instead of jumping all over her and telling her how she is not working hard enough. I took the time to check out the issue, and discovered that she was telling the truth. The schools administration laughs at this very same teacher because they know her method of teaching is very, very poor. And by the grace of GOD she is retiring this year. Now my daughter has to take the class over, but at least having a different teacher will give her an advantage! Listen to your children parents, they have something to say that is worth listening too. And I know we are grown up and we have been through a few things to know what we are talking about. But children know a few things too! If it wasn't for my children I wouldn't know what was being said around me in public sometimes. The new slang is way over my head! Just think about it! Do you hear what I hear?