Speak Now Never Hold Your Peace Podcast

It’s back-to-school season, and while schools consistently encourage parents to be involved, this episode asks an important question: Are schools making it possible for working parents to actually show up?

After attending my son’s senior-year open house at 8:30am in the morning, host, Eboni Stiff began wondering why so few parents were present. What initially looked like a lack of parental involvement quickly became a much bigger conversation about work schedules, financial responsibilities, family obligations, and the reality that not every parent has the flexibility to attend school events during traditional working hours.

In this episode of Speak Now Never Hold Your Peace, Eboni challenges the idea that physical attendance is the only measure of an involved parent. Parents show up in countless ways; from helping with homework and getting children to school each morning to encouraging them, communicating with teachers, providing stability, and making sacrifices behind the scenes.

This episode isn’t about criticizing educators. It’s about starting a conversation. If schools truly want greater parent participation, should open houses, ceremonies, conferences, and other important events be scheduled with working families in mind?

As another school year begins, Eboni celebrates the teachers, staff, students, and families who make up the village while calling for a more accessible approach to parent engagement.

Before we ask why parents aren’t showing up, maybe we should ask whether we’ve made it possible for them to be there.