To ask why you don’t volunteer for school / PTA / Parent Council Events?

[whyismykid]

Is it because you are too busy? Don’t think it’s important? The people who organise these type of events are irritating? Think the school have all the funds they need so it’s not worth the bother?

What would enable you (or persuade you) to help out?

200 people attended the event I planned today and had a good time but only 8 people volunteered to help. I understand that the planning and preparing for events is time consuming (it totally is!) so I’d only expect a small number of people to be able to take that on, but it should be different for on the day help I would think? I made sure each volunteer slot was only 45 mins long, so that people could also take part with their families, and made it clear what each volunteer job involved. Online sign up
so super easy.

What else can I do? it’s a school of 750 pupils and I have a summer fair to attract volunteers for next, any ideas?

Because I've been taken advantage of in the past in a voluntary role in a school.

But if you work full time - you still have evenings and weekends
Not if you do shift work you don't. I do think people who think people have spare time on their hands live on a different planet.

It’s so difficult to motivate people without putting on pressure - the last thing I would want to do is make anyone feel forced into helping, or make them feel bad because they have too many other things going on!

Very difficult for single parents as there isn’t anyone else to stay with their children, I completely get that. We ran one event with a crèche for volunteers children provided by the after school club. That worked well.

We work full time normally (I’m on mat leave now though with a small baby). Obviously when we’re working, we’re working (we also work some evenings and weekends too), but otherwise I have a baby with me who is ebf and I’m not the most helpful volunteer when I need to sit and feed him most of the time. If I was a SAHP with only school age children though, it would be much easier but we work so much otherwise and have little (or no, really) childfree time in evenings and weekends.

DH and I both work full time (shifts). Add to this the sneering at parents who can't help and the cliquey parents that do help and as a result are smug about knowing the teachers, and that is why we don't help.

To be clear, I do care about my DCs school. It is a school in a deprived area and deserves every scrap of support. I will send in cakes, donate uniform my DC have grown out of, pay promptly for school trips, turn up on time to Parents Eveningd etc. But I just don't have time for the PTA and cannot be arsed with the politics.

I work as a teacher so already have to do work in the evenings and weekends. I have spare time in the holidays but there isn't much needs doing then.

I have volunteered to help at the school fairs if they are on Saturdays but my DC's school has held all the events on a Friday afternoon recently. I can only get out from work in time to take the DCs to the last half hour or so, let alone help at the event. IMO Saturday events are easier for working parents to help at.

And yes PTA meetings need to be held in the evening. Not at the times convenient to the SAHM clique who run the PTA if you want more people involved.

Because they always say - let’s meet for coffee at 9:30 on Friday! I can’t, I work.

Ive been taken advantage of too. Give an inch and they’ll take a mile

I do, and I’m secretary on the PTA. But I work full time, and so doing things before, after or during school is difficult. And unfortunately that is also when any conversation about what needs doing happen so difficult to volunteer for odd jobs.

FWIW I feel I did my due when I spent 8 hours helping set up, run and clear away the xmas fair this year.

Because our PTFA is very cliquey, volunteers always get saddled with more work than they actually signed up for, lots of reasons.

I’d rather contribute £5-£10 a month than volunteer.

Oh but we have helped at school fairs! Prob best to hold meetings at a weekend. My DH works away a lot so no one to look after kids in evenings at weekends

I work full time but help at the PTA there are 4 us out of a school roll of 1200. Alk the funds raised go into the school clubs i.e swimming, drama, crafts etc. We are looking at having to stop the PTA we can not run our events with 4 people. Yes folk might not care if there isn't a spring fayre etc. But when the funds dry up and all the clubs stop they will be up in arms.

People need to have the time, skills, and confidence to volunteer.
Many people don't have all 3 of those.

Some people have had their fingers burnt in the past - being told 'it is easy' or 'it is only 45 minutes' and then being left to price a white elephant stall and bargain with people for 3 hours. Then they understandably don't want to risk it again.

One of the first rules of PTA, is don't organise stuff you won't be able to find sufficient volunteers for .

However, some people who complain about cliques should remember that PTA people may be willing and capable of organising stuff (in order to raise funds for all the children at the school, not just their own), but they may not have all the social skills needed to be as welcoming and friendly and grateful as you want, especially half way through a summer fair.

Do you work full time op ??

Because the PTA is a bunch of bored Alpha Mum housewives who have formed a clique in order to fulfil their evil plan to dominate the school one bake sale at a time
This is the MN view of the PTA unfortunately, total bollocks in our case but it seems to what everyone thinks

And even now that I’m technically on mat leave, I still work nearly every day during nap times or in the evenings as I work in the sort of profession where I can really take time off without working at all, so it’s very full on pretty much unless I’m asleep.

Mine have left primary now but I didn't join when they were there 1) all the meetings were in school hours and I was at work and 2) I was a teacher and by the time I'd done 70 hours a week at my own school i had absolutely no desire to volunteer for any more school-related stuff.

Because the girl who bullied me all through secondary school is on the PTA and a smug bitch with it and I have no interest in breathing the same air as her. So it's as no from me. It's bad enough seeing her at a distance in the playground.

I've helped on a couple of occasions when I've been approached directly. Ours splits events into two shifts so you can visit half, and help half which works well.

I already spend my "hour per week" on Guiding, Scouting and park run". It's amazing how many minutes are in that hour... hundreds of them

Honestly, I think two of the pp hit the nail on the head. People aren’t willing to give up their free time (note I said not willing rather than not able) and many people are takers rather than givers. It’s a depressing though realistic view on things.

Like you, OP, I’m a giver. I’m a Cub Scout Leader, coach my daughter’s soccer, on church committees, help out at school events when I can. I work FT and have three children under 10, so I am acutely aware of the time pressures that we’re all dealing with. But I make the time to help because it’s important. What we value, we do. I value my community (school, neighborhood, church) so I help. Lots of people don’t. Or they do but they’re just lazy bastards who are happy to reap the benefits without putting any of the work in. Alas.

I work full time, I don't see my son all of my working week as his bed time is an hour after I get home (sometime half)
My weekend is my time with my son

I have a job. I also volunteer elsewhere. I’d rather write the pta a cheque every year and have to skip the tedious events/raffles/bike sales.

Ours is very active and does well, I appreciate those that do give their time but they have just spent £15k on playground equipment that isn’t going to be fit for purpose or usable in a school of 500 pupils. I can’t be arsed to get involved with that.

I work full-time. Our son's school not only arrange the two parent group (one PTA, one for carers) meetings during the day when I cannot attend, they also give very short notice - 2 or 3 days - which is way too little time for me to get leave from work. I've pointed this out to the committees numerous times, only to be met with "But most people want to come while their children are in school" ... and no comment on the lack of notice.

Why don't I volunteer for weekend things? Because the volunteering is already arranged amongst the 'closed shop' of the two daytime meetings, so they do not make other volunteers feel welcome nor give them anything remotely interesting or valuable to do. I'm far more inclined to spend my precious weekends (given that I work) with DH and DS, than put myself for their benefit.

We literally has this same thread yesterday, is it national Why Don't People Join The PTA Week?