Amitabh Sharma, Features Coordinator

POSITIVE Parenting

Janet Gallow, vice-principal, Holy Childhood High School.

Janet Gallow remembers her daughter crying at home, not wanting to go to school the next morning. She was very concerned. She was not dealing with a kindergarten student, but a teenager who was buckling under pressure, as her mother was the vice-principal at her school.

"It was very difficult," recalls Gallow, vice-principal of Holy Childhood High, St Andrew, and mother of two daughters. "She was taunted by her classmates. Though she was a naturally talented student, they thought that she was being given preferential treatment, she was starting to feel the pressure."

Asked to relinquish post

The situation came to a head and got to a stage where her daughter asked her to relinquish the post.

"She said that she would not be 'picked on' by her friends, and I was also seriously thinking about it," Gallow says.

Things eased, however, and Gallow still holds the office and is relieved that the time passed. Gallow, who teaches history, says that there comes a point in every teacher's life that, as parents, they have to balance their work with family.

Michelle Goldson, grade three teacher at Mona Preparatory School, St Andrew, has a three-year-old daughter who attends kindergarten at the school. Goldson is pregnant with her second child, due in November.

"I grew up teaching, I grew up teaching the dolls on the veranda of the house," Goldson says.

Unlike Gallow who was presented with the challenges of being a teacher and parent, she has none. Not at this time, Goldson says. "It is an advantage for me to have my daughter around next door, she is near me," she says. "Being a teacher, I have the privilege of getting her work done."

She says though that it is imperative that the child understands from day one that she cannot take advantage of the situation.

Gallow sought the assistance of the guidance counselors to resolve her daughter's issue. "As a teacher, I had decided to stay away from the child," she says. "You need to support your children without taking sides."

Time is important

Gallow's younger daughter is in fourth form, and she is bracing to see her through. "As any parent, I want to spend more time with her. I do not want her to be a part of the statistics of those who failed or dropped out of school because they did not have parental support.

"There are social issues to deal with ... I have seen so many children go astray. I would much rather have a stable family than become rich."

Here is a woman who has seen the need to compartmentalise her life. "I have two jobs at hand," says Gallow. "When the school gets over, I have to go back home and be a mother and wife. It is important that you leave your job behind and exude positivity at home."

Goldson, on the other hand, sees her job as an advantage.

"The school is over by 3 p.m., so I have more time to spend with the family; and holidays, I love holidays, this is a privilege that only a teacher can have."

Goldson, who has been married for six years, attributes the fact that she does not have to deal with any challenges to her husband.

"This smooth sailing would not have been possible without the partner," she says. "Having a father helps tremendously, he takes over from me when the going is tough."

Both teachers emphasise that having an extended family around, is a factor that has made life easier for them. "My daughter has her grandparents around," says Goldson, "this has also made a lot of difference."

amitabh.sharma@gleanerjm.com.

Michelle Goldson, teacher at Mona Preparatory School. - photos by Amitabh Sharma