Ericka Kammerer wrote:

Anne Rogers wrote:

But my bet is that I know more about it than many of the parents, just
from picking up random snippets of information - and it's not surprising
if not knowing where exactly the money is going that parents quibble at
the cost.

If people were told at the beginning how much something would cost, no
ones children would ever do anything.

Honestly, I've been heavily involved in communicating
this sort of information for several activities, and I've come
to the conclusion that while a lot of organizations are horrible
on the communication front, being good at putting the information
out isn't anywhere near enough! There are way too many parents
who just don't read, and I'm starting to lose a certain amount
of sympathy for them. It's downright irritating to spend hours
and hours putting together handbooks and presentations and
goodness knows how many other ways of conveying information,
only to still have some parents who gripe about not knowing
what the requirements are (or just assuming that requirements
don't apply to them). The stories go on and on and on.

I once had a parent who complained to me because I didn't notify her
when I saw her son running to school in the morning. He wasn't
supposed to do that (I think it was a good idea myself as he had way
too much energy to sit still in the classroom), and I should have
known that he was supposed to be taking the bus. This was the same
woman who 'had to' buy a broom to get a broom straw.

I certainly relate to the dance stories, but in my
opinion, it ought to be self-evident that pretty much any
activity has stuff you need to know if you're going to pursue
it seriously, and that means you have to read the material
provided, attend the orientations scheduled, ask questions
when something is unclear, and so forth.

I don't think there is any way to force information
into the head of someone who isn't interested. Like I said,
there are plenty of organizations that are really bad at
sharing information, in which case the organization has
a good deal of responsibility for the ensuing confusion, but
there are also plenty of folks who assume that unless someone
corners them one-on-one and explains everything in very
small words, it just isn't important enough to bother with.

Best wishes,
Ericka