Parents’ demands are putting pressure on teachers, professor says

Unreasonable demands from parents are putting increasing pressure on teachers, Yle reports. Experts say most parents in Finland trust teachers and schools, but excessive requests and confrontational behaviour have become more common.

Requests concerning school meals, phone use and messages sent through Wilma, the school communications system, have increased. Some parents have asked for foods such as ketchup and macaroni without a valid health-related reason.

A Helsinki primary school teacher also told Helsingin Sanomat that some parents demand impossible things from teachers, including that a teacher come to the child’s home to wake them up.

Nina Sajaniemi, a professor and neuropsychologist at the University of Eastern Finland, said a small group of parents contacts teachers to criticise them and threatens to file complaints when they believe their child has been treated unfairly.

“Parents have forgotten common sense and that there are other children at school besides their own,” Sajaniemi said.

Schools are not service institutions

Sajaniemi and Pauliina Lehtinen, executive director of the Finnish Parents’ League, agree that the problem is partly linked to a customer-oriented culture entering schools.

“The whole situation started to go wrong years ago, when schools began to be discussed from the perspective of customer relationships,” Sajaniemi said.

She stressed that schools are not service institutions where satisfaction is measured through performance.

“Work is done at school, and things are not always pleasant. Sometimes you have to move beyond your comfort zone,” she said.

Sajaniemi also questioned the idea that children should have immediate access to their parents during the school day. Some parents demand that children be allowed to use their phones throughout the day. Sajaniemi said children should also see teachers as trusted adults they can talk to about their problems.

Lehtinen says public debate focuses too much on extremes

Lehtinen said public discussion has placed too much emphasis on confrontation and extreme examples.

“There have always been all kinds of parents, and parents have always had all kinds of demands. Parents want the best for their children, which is entirely natural,” she said.

Lehtinen said the issue is broader than difficult parents. Awareness of parenting has increased, while parenthood also involves obligations and performance pressures.

At the same time, class sizes have grown, teachers have more pupils and therefore more parents to deal with. This leaves teachers with less time for communication with families.

Lehtinen stressed the importance of cooperation between parents and teachers. More attention should be paid to the responsibilities of parents and schools instead of focusing on excesses, she said. Better interaction could also help prevent unreasonable demands.

“The child and the child’s wellbeing are at the centre. There are adults on the school’s side and adults on the family’s side, and these adults should find common ground,” Lehtinen said.

Sajaniemi said the divide between parents has widened: some show little interest in what happens at school, while others take too much interest. She said the parents who could benefit most from school meetings may be the ones who fail to attend.

“Parents should be given the message that they can trust us to do our job well here, while they do their job well at home,” Sajaniemi said.