School Intervention Programs: A Parent’s Perspective

What do parents think about intervention programs implemented in their children’s schools?

There’s no doubt that parents want nothing but the best for their children. Although being a fairly new concept, school intervention programs are turning out to be sought-after strategies that parents want their children’s schools to implement for all its benefits.

Traditionally, schools focus on developing and improving a child’s academic abilities. While there is inherently no problem with this, the development and improvement of a child’s behavior and mental and emotional health ends up being disregarded when they should actually be prioritized, too.

When schools implement intervention programs, they give importance to the non-academic factors that influence a child’s growth.

What School Intervention Programs Do for a Child

Basically, an intervention program involves the creation of strategies aimed at preparing a child for the real world not only academically but behaviorally as well – these programs are designed to mold children into functioning members of society.

Schools may choose to implement these intervention programs through the creation of education programs, the creation of new and strengthening of existing school policies, renovations of school facilities to be more conducive to learning, and many other ways.

These programs allow schools to better cater to the needs of students with behavioral issues, students struggling with mental health issues, students that suffer bullying at school, and many others whose growth in school is hindered by factors outside academics.

A Parent’s Perspective on Intervention Programs

While school is traditionally viewed as the place for students to excel academically, the home is where students are traditionally expected to develop good manners and proper conduct, with parents held accountable for whatever behavior and personality their children develop. However, this should not be the case.

Studies show that, out of the 6,000 waking hours in a year, the average American student spends around 1,000 hours a year in school – and this is excluding time spent staying in school after classes are over!

With students spending so much time in school being surrounded by different types of people and exposed to a plethora of behaviors and personalities, it’s foolish to assume that the home is the only place where children develop their behaviors. Parents can really only do so much!

Parents are unaware of what happens after their children leave home for school. When a child is on school grounds, teachers and other school staff bear the responsibility of continuing a parent’s task of promoting good behavior and personality development. With the help of school intervention programs, they are able to do so effectively.

Intervention Programs and Behavioral Issues

Parents of children with behavioral issues are no strangers to disciplinary practices of a school. Schools usually call parents up to inform them of their children’s infractions to the school’s policies as well as the disciplinary actions that the school will be taking according to those policies.

This is a very stressful situation for the parents that can bring about feelings of frustration and embarrassment with the child usually suffering the receiving end of it.

Depending on the gravity of the infraction, these disciplinary actions would involve sending the child to detention or even suspending the child from school.

Intervention programs discourage the implementation of such disciplinary actions because, according to the research done while developing these programs, these actions do more harm than good in a child’s overall performance in the academe.

Instead, intervention programs put focus on more restorative processes. These processes are designed to strengthen a student’s relationship with the school instead of harm it. Students are given the opportunity to learn from the infractions they commit instead of having to be continually punished for them without explanation – being understanding and empathetic towards students is the best way to teach them to be understanding and empathetic as well.

On the parents’ side, it’s much better to hear about their children developing a sense of empathy than to hear about them being subjected to disciplinary actions.

Intervention Programs and Mental Health Issues

Dealing with mental health issues is tricky and a lot of schools don’t even bother addressing or at least acknowledging the fact that students actually suffer from such issues at all. Intervention programs that promote social and emotional learning (SEL) are able to help students suffering from mental health issues by providing them with the support they need while in school.

These programs encourage openness and a sense of community to show children that they don’t have to face their issues alone.

Mental health isn’t exactly a very easy topic for most children to open up to their parents about. This can result in conflicts and misunderstandings at home – something that will further hinder a child’s progress towards getting better.

With the support coming from intervention programs, children are encouraged to get their parents involved in their healing and treatment by being open and communicative about their conditions and their emotional needs.

Intervention Programs and Bullying in School

Bullying is a very real problem in schools these days. Parents are not usually made aware of their children’s experiences with bullying – whether it’s being the victims or being the bullies themselves. So it is up to the school to correct a bully’s behavior, facilitate the victim’s healing, and repair damaged relationships.

A student’s social and emotional competence is built through intervention and SEL programs. More socially and emotionally competent students in a school environment would mean less and less instances of bullying.

From a parent’s perspective, the anxiety that comes with knowing that their children are at risk of being bullied can be overwhelming. Knowing that there are programs in place to reduce this risk is a huge relief.

Overall, school intervention programs prove to be must-haves in every school. As parents work hard to develop good behavior and conduct in their children, schools with intervention programs ensure that these lessons learned at home will continue to be taught even when parents are not present.

These programs are a parent’s best bet to ensure their children’s continual learning and growth in order to reach their full potential.

Featured image source: Freepik