Parents Just Don't Understand

Having reached that part of the year where schools starts to intrude back into our conscious thought, I had to reflect on the need for "battle" with the four scholars at my house, and I do believe firmly that parenting is not something I get to quit doing, at any point, sadly, even though I Love Lucy is particularly calming, and I have reached a Zen state of relaxation.
Parenting in whatever form it may take, aunty, mom and dad, grandmother  or even great grand mother, is the absolute foundation of student success in most cases. Stability at home, with expectations and boundaries and discipline and support, can transform an average student into a wunderkind, and  the lack of the above can most certainly sink the mission before it is started. Working in a a school that has multiple means of knowledge of academic success, such as PowerSchool or Homework Online and Facebook and Twitter and many websites and robo-calling and constant feedback would seem to be almost overkill, but in many cases, the assumption that all are plugged in may be fundamentally flawed, as so many don't seem to have a clue about what is going on with their student until time has passed to a bad outcome. Emergencies seem to occur, when calamity itself could have been afforded with some simple due diligence. It is a ponderer.
My speculation takes me down a road too certain. My belief is that the gap is that there are no bedtimes in place and no restrictions on Halo and unlimited texting and cars that the parent couldn't afford until they were 30, and so many go on vacation when school is in session. I have failed to stay amazed at the number of times that I have seen parents simply give up when things get tough, when the law gets involved, when truancy letters arrive, when summer school tuition is due. It is the painstaking, diligent, hardnosed, caring parent whose student doesn't fit the high achieving mode that touches and surprises me and more importantly acts as a anchor for their child. This doesn't end at 40, much less 14, and those that hang in there, even feeling called to do an often thankless job, have my respect and affection and open admiration.