HMP = High Maintenance Parent = Generation X

1. HMP = High Maintenance Parent = Generation X Who are they?

2. Who are they?

3. Generation X Parent • Born between 1965 – 1979 • Least parented • Least nurtured • ½ come from divorced families • Raised in record numbers in day care • 40% latchkey kids

4. Generation X parents… • Have been taking care of themselves since they started elementary school • Don’t trust authority • Had parents that didn’t know what was going on at school • Had teachers that didn’t know what was going on at home

5. Generation X Parents… • Are not going to let this happen to their children • Will make sure their children get what they need

6. Generation X Parents… • Will go over your head if they don’t get the results they want from you • Anything that smacks of bureaucratic red tape or protocol is an irritant • Are quick to whip together a power point presentation to show you how to organize your classroom • Are the technology-revolution generation

7. Generation X Parents… • Can be a little snotty • Rebel against worksheet-based homework • Complain that curriculum is not challenging, rich, or imaginative enough • Want schools to do everything: • Provide rigorous academic instruction • Socialize their children • Offer them valuable, rich cultural experiences

8. What do they want?

9. Generation X Parents… • Looking to schools to heal childhood wounds • They want: • To be taken seriously • To be paid attention to • To be given your time

10. How do you cope with them?

11. Tips on How to Cope • 1. Listen to us • 2. Include us • 3. Put us to work • 4. Give us limits • 5. Work with us

12. How to effectively deal with HMPs? • 1. Put up boundaries • 2. Use policy • 3. Invite them in • 4. Meet – but you call the shots • 5. Show them the facts - proof • 6. Contact – give specific times