Parental apathy in Princeton

Elizabeth M. and Theodore Casparian of Princeton
    We feel lucky to have been residents of Princeton for the last 21 years and even luckier to be able to send all three of our children to the Princeton Regional Schools. In the last week, however, we have felt frustrated, angry and deeply concerned as members of the parent community at Princeton High School.
   Over the last few months several incidents of substance abuse involving PHS students have occurred and been dealt with appropriately by our school district. Last week, Gary Snyder, principal of PHS, issued a letter to all parents alerting us to these incidents and inviting all parents to attend a forum where a community response could be developed. In the 13 years that we have been parents in the Princeton Regional School community, we have never received such an invitation from a principal, and we took it very seriously. If the principal of our children’s school felt that there was something of concern happening amongst the student body and wanted to address it as a community, we as parents believed we should attend such a meeting. We were shocked that of the possible 2,000-plus parents of Princeton High School students only about 30 attended that meeting this past Wednesday evening.
   We know that it is difficult to get high parent attendance at such programs and it is difficult for parents to think that their children might make poor decisions – but we are distressed that so few parents attended. We strongly believe that as members of this community we are responsible for working together to assure the safety and health of ALL of the children in the district. The school cannot do this important work alone. Parents, teachers, professional experts and students need to work together on all issues regarding illegal and risky situations for our youth. We hope that the next meeting, scheduled to be held in January 2008, will be overflowing with parents who are enthusiastic about working together for the health and safety of our children.
Elizabeth M. Casparian
Theodore Casparian
Princeton