Parents and guardians are very important influences in a student’s life. They are home for their students and have raised their children. Styles of parenting have been altered parent to parent and child to child. There are parents that have more of a lenient tendency of parenting and allow their children to do what they desire, and then there are more strict parents.

For the most part, parents at Issaquah High School tend to be supportive of their children. According to National Educational Association Today, “ongoing research shows that family engagement in schools improves student achievement, reduces absenteeism, and restores parents’ confidence in their children’s education.” This statement holds true for some of Issaquah High School students, especially sophomore Kade Na. Na says, “My dad pushes me on SAT, studying and doing homework. So during the weekend, my father creates worksheets for the preparation of the SAT and ACT.” However, some students already put enough pressure on themselves and have enough drive to go through the path of life without having to be nagged on about schoolwork. Senior Haley Morris says, “My parents are not very strict with my schoolwork because I already motivate myself to do well in school.” While all parents’ goals are to make their children successful in the real world after college, they want their children to come home happy with their successes in life. Senior Deon Lillo says, “I feel like my parents mostly care about me succeeding and being happy with my own results. My parents are not the type that think where I go to college determines success, they are more along the lines of trying your best in order to be happy with your results whatever those may be.” Having good grades is always a parent’s hope for their children, but freshman Charlie Heller says, “[My parents] tell me that I can put in all the effort I can but naturally I can get an A, but when I am not getting A’s they know I am not trying.” So when it comes to education, parents are very involved.

Household rules are very important in the home of a family. Some are different than others depending on cultural differences and traditions. In this day in age, technology is booming, with more and more children indulging in the world of social media and videos daily. Some parents think that it is okay to let their children use their phones as much as they want, while other parents really enjoy having their children off their cell phones. Junior Hailey Palm has guidelines for her cell phone use: “My parents limit my cell phone use and it can be slightly annoying when they take it away,” she explains. Junior Kyle Hoffman has somewhat of a unique scenario. His uncle turns off the wi-fi at night, and says, “[I have] pretty okay cell phone use. He turns off cellular data at night. It is kind of annoying because I cannot talk to my friends after a midnight. I am allowed to talk on the phone during weekdays. Usually I text or Snapchat.” Another rule that is different in households is curfew. Curfews are used by parents to make sure their children get home at a time where they feel comfortable. Weekdays and weekends usually are different in times of curfews because of activity during the week versus the weekend. Parents at Issaquah High tended to be lenient on curfews for their students, especially Heller’s parents. Heller says, “I do not have a weekend curfew, since it is inferred that if I am not home by a certain time, I will be sleeping at a friend’s house.” Some parents prefer their children to be at home by a certain time. Sophomore Kathryn Nesterode says, “My curfew is on 9:00 pm on weekends since my parents like it if I am home by a certain time frame.” Speaking of house rules, some families really enjoy knowing their children’s friends because it gives them a glimpse of who they are as people. However, freshman Dasha Hamlin says, “My mother likes to know who my friends are, since it gives her a perspective of who I hang out with.” Compare it to Lillo, who says, “[My parents] are more like I can hang out with whoever I want. They don’t really care about sitting down and meeting them.” Household rules have an influence on students lives here at Issaquah.

Time spent with parents is crucial to maintaining a closer relationship with parents, so having time spent together creates everlasting bonds and memories. Lillo really enjoys his time hanging and being around his family. He says, “We usually have family dinner together and hang out, from time to time when I am home on break we go out to lunch with my mom and it is more on the lines of if I am home and we can go get lunch or something.”

In the end, parental influence is beneficial to our students’ lives. Whether it may seem like a pain for some students having their phones taken away, or forcing a curfew on students, we can determine that parents are beneficial to IHS students.