To illustrate the obstacles that parents unconsciously place in their children’s educational path, I’ll tell you a little story:An excellent, conscientious elementary school teacher who I know has a group of twenty-five 4-year-old children. The brand new school still lacks some basic supplies for the pupils.Also, consumable classroom materials, such as scissors and paper, generally tend to be paid for by their parents, who deposit funds into a common account for the teachers to draw from as needeD、Anyway, the first general parent-teacher meeting was held and the teacher stated that after having evaluated the students’ development during the first week of class, her evaluation was that her primary objectives would include encouraging sharing amongst the children and stimulating an early interest in reading by providing them with a small library of picture books for them to leaf through, which would be donated to the class by the children themselves.As you would expect at this age, many of the little students were recalcitrant to share their property with the rest of their class. However, what’s really surprising is that many of their parents were even more uncooperative with this teacher’s approach than their own children. The general feeling amongst these querulous parents was that if the teacher wanted to get those books, the school should pay for them. Granted, their opinions are to be respected, but whether by commission or omission the eager teacher’s first two projects were shot down in their infancy. Sadly, I think it would take a mighty big-hearted teacher to risk approaching this particular group of parents, or any other for that matter, with another project of similar proportions. In short, if parents and students obstinately insist on making teachers and schools completely responsible for their children’s education, they can actually hinder it. Ironic, isn’t it