History of Parent Activism for Child & Family Policy Advances

Originally published by Beacon Press in 1983

"They are our children, not theirs!" cried angry Jewish parents as they demonstrated in the New York streets in October 1917. These parents were protesting the introduction into the public schools of the Gary Plan, which stressed vocational training over academic preparation. Jewish and other immigrant parents saw the Gary Plan as a way to deny upward mobility to their children. Anti-Gary Leagues were formed by parents in many poor and working-class neighborhoods, and representatives of parent and community groups expressed their opposition at public hearings. One representative said: "There is no parent who is not absolutely opposed to the Gary system. Most of the people of the city believe that it does not fit in with their ideals of education”

Originally published by Beacon Press in 1983

We all develop self-images that mirror our judgments of ourselves as effective parents. Many parents undoubtedly view themselves as competent, quiet, rather private individuals who are quite capable of rearing their children with little help from anyone outside their immediate families. Sometimes this self-image may be jarred in moments of crisis or unpleasant encounters with schoolteachers or medical professionals who view parents in a negative light.