In the wake of the tragic school shooting in Parkland, FL, one teacher is making news for a social media post urging parents to talk to their kids' teachers.
Amie Diprima Brown, a mother and middle school teacher from Rome, GA, wrote in a Facebook post earlier this week she has been teaching since 2003. Every fall, she asks parent to tackle an easy task—one that has seen a disappointing decline in completion over time.
"Every year for 15 years I have sent home the same assignment on the first day of school. I send a letter home asking parents to tell me about their child in a million words or less," Amie wrote. "I go on to explain that I want to learn the child's hopes, dreams, fears, challenges, etc. and jokingly ask parents to limit it to less than a million words since we all know we could talk forever about our children."
The letters are not graded and Amie is not checking for grammar or spelling. They are simply a way for her to learn about her students from the people who know them the best. She wrote they often have revealed things she would otherwise not know about the kids.
"I have learned about eating disorders, seizures, jealousy issues between twins, depression, adoption, abuse ... just to name a few things," she wrote. "These letters give me a huge head start on getting to truly know my students. I often pull them out when a child has a sudden change in behavior or issue that comes up."
In the first year she assigned these letters, about 98 percent of the parents in the class completed the assignment. However, as the years have gone by, that number has gradually dropped. This year, only 22 percent of her students' parents submitted a letter—despite the abundance of electronic devices that have made the task easier to do. As proof, she shared a photo comparing a thick stack of letters from 2003 versus a much thinner pile in 2017.
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Nov. 20, 1999 - Deming Middle School, New Mexico
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February 29, 2000 - Buell Elementary School, Michigan
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May 26, 2000 - Lake Worth Middle School, Florida
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March 5, 2001 - Santana High School, California
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April 25, 2003 - Red Lion Area Junior High School, Pennsylvania
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September 24, 2003 - Rocori High School, Minnesota
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March 21, 2005. Red Lake High School, Minnesota
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November 8, 2005 - Campbell County Comprehensive High School, Tennessee
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Aug. 24, 2006 - Essex Elementary School, Vermont
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September 29, 2006 - Weston High School, Wisconsin
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October 2, 2006 - West Nickel Mines School, Pennsylvania
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January 5, 2011 - Millard South High School, Nebraska
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February 27, 2012 - Chardon High School, Ohio
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December 14, 2012 - Sandy Hook Elementary, Connecticut
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October 21, 2013 - Sparks Middle School, Nevada.
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December 13, 2013 - Arapahoe High School, Colorado
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June 10, 2014 - Reynolds High School, Oregon
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October 24, 2014 - Marysville-Pilchuck High School, Washington
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February 12, 2016 - Independence High School, Arizona
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September 28, 2016 - Townville Elementary, South Carolina
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April 10, 2017 - North Park Elementary School, California
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September 13, 2017 - Freeman High School, Washington
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The drop in letters has also correlated with other performance issues with her students. Over the last 15 years, Amie says she's seen a drop in completed homework. This year her homework completion rate hovers around 67 percent, even with electronic reminders and emails she sends out. "It was rare for more than one or two students to not have their homework 15 years ago. Now, it's just frustrating," she wrote.
She added that it's difficult for teachers to gauge potential problems with students if parents aren't involved. "With all of our other responsibilities in our profession, how are we supposed to get to know students so that we can identify the ones with the mentality and disposition to become a school shooter if parents are checking out of the academic process?"
In less than a week, Amie's message went viral, with over 93,000 shares and has received over 77,000 reactions on Facebook.
Amie ended her note with one last plea for parents to communicate with their children and teachers. "Be a parent. Be involved in your child's life so that you can help them through the issues with friends, the possible suicidal thoughts and problems academically. I promise you, if parents spent more time with their children and got involved in their lives, we would see drastic improvements in our schools and our society."
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Addressing News and Current Events: Tips for all kids
Consider your own reactions. Your kids will look to the way you handle the news to determine their own approach. If you stay calm and rational, they will, too.
Addressing News and Current Events: Tips for all kids
Take action. Depending on the issue and kids' ages, families can find ways to help those affected by the news. Kids can write postcards to politicians expressing their opinions; families can attend meetings or protests; kids can help assemble care packages or donate a portion of their allowance to a rescue/humanitarian effort. Check out websites that help kids do good.
Tips for kids under 7
Keep the news away. Turn off the TV and radio news at the top of the hour and half hour. Read the newspaper out of range of young eyes that can be frightened by the pictures (kids may respond strongly to pictures of other kids in jeopardy). Preschool kids don't need to see or hear about something that will only scare them silly, especially because they can easily confuse facts with fantasies or fears.
Tips for kids under 7
Stress that your family is safe. At this age, kids are most concerned with your safety and separation from you. Try not to minimize or discount their concerns and fears, but reassure them by explaining all the protective measures that exist to keep them safe. If the news event happened far away, you can use the distance to reassure kids. For kids who live in areas where crime and violence is a very real threat, any news account of violence may trigger extra fear. If that happens, share a few age-appropriate tips for staying and feeling safe (being with an adult, keeping away from any police activity).
Tips for kids under 7
Be together. Though it's important to listen and not belittle their fears, distraction and physical comfort can go a long way. Snuggling up and watching something cheery or doing something fun together may be more effective than logical explanations about probabilities.
Tips for kids 8–12
Carefully consider your child's maturity and temperament. Many kids can handle a discussion of threatening events, but if your kids tend toward the sensitive side, be sure to keep them away from the TV news; repetitive images and stories can make dangers appear greater, more prevalent, and closer to home.
Tips for kids 8–12
Be available for questions and conversation. At this age, many kids will see the morality of events in stark black-and-white terms and are in the process of developing their moral beliefs. You may have to explain the basics of prejudice, bias, and civil and religious strife. But be careful about making generalizations, since kids will take what you say to the bank. This is a good time to ask them what they know, since they'll probably have gotten their information from friends, and you may have to correct facts.
Tips for kids 8–12
Talk about -- and filter -- news coverage. You might explain that even news programs compete for viewers, which sometimes affects content decisions. If you let your kids use the Internet, go online with them. Some of the pictures posted are simply grisly. Monitor where your kids are going, and set your URLs to open to non-news-based portals.
Tips for teens
Check in. Since, in many instances, teens will have absorbed the news independently of you, talking with them can offer great insights into their developing politics and their senses of justice and morality. It will also help you get a sense of what they already know or have learned about the situation from their own social networks. It will also give you the opportunity to throw your own insights into the mix (just don't dismiss theirs, since that will shut down the conversation immediately).
Tips for teens
Let teens express themselves. Many teens will feel passionately about events and may even personalize them if someone they know has been directly affected. They'll also probably be aware that their own lives could be affected by violence. Try to address their concerns without dismissing or minimizing them. If you disagree with media portrayals, explain why so your teens can separate the mediums through which they absorb news from the messages conveyed.
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