School Getting Involved Parent Involvement Can Benefit Children in Many Ways By Rebecca Fraser-Thill twitter linkedin Rebecca Fraser-Thill holds a Master's Degree in developmental psychology and writes about child development and tween parenting. Learn about our editorial process Rebecca Fraser-Thill Fact checked by Fact checked by James Lacy on May 14, 2020 linkedin James Lacy, MLS, is a fact checker and researcher. Learn about our editorial process James Lacy Updated on December 16, 2020 Print JGI / Jamie Grill / Getty Images Table of Contents View All Table of Contents Academic Achievement Attendance Behavior Social Functioning Mental Health Parent involvement in their kids' education has far-reaching benefits. Here are the effects that researchers have found most consistently. Academic Achievement Countless studies have found that kids perform better in school when their parents are involved with their schoolwork. Compared to students whose parents are uninvolved, kids with involved parents get better grades and are thought more highly of by teachers. These effects remain in the future, even if parents become less involved as the child ages. Parent involvement in school-based activities seems to have the greatest effect on kids' grades, but home-based parent involvement also plays at least some role. Involved parents enhance school performance in a number of ways, including by fostering a mastery orientation toward learning and encouraging self-discipline, a skill that's critical to school success. Attendance Kids whose parents are involved with their schoolwork attend school more regularly than kids whose parents are uninvolved. This probably occurs for a number of reasons. For one, parents who are involved typically value school highly and encourage consistent attendance. Secondly, kids who get help from parents tend to feel more academically competent, so they are less likely to want to avoid going to school. Finally, parent involvement improves kids' attitudes about school, making school attendance more desirable. Behavior Behavior issues often begin to appear during the tween years, especially as kids' cognitive development leads them toward risk-taking. Thankfully, parental attention can help to head off many of these behavior issues. For instance, children with involved parents have lower rates of substance use and delinquent acts compared to kids whose parents are uninvolved. In addition, kids behave better and less aggressively in the classroom when their parents are involved with their education. Social Functioning Parent involvement in education also aids kids' social functioning. In particular, kids with involved parents have better peer interactions than kids with uninvolved parents. Their social skills also seem to be more advanced. Notably, advanced social skills, in turn, lead to better academic outcomes. What Makes a Good Student? Mental Health Finally, kids with involved parents have better mental health than children whose parents do not get involved in their education. For one, parent involvement in education fosters kids' self-esteem. Children with involved parents also have enhanced skills for regulating emotions and feel negative emotions less often. All in all, when parents choose to become involved with their kid's schoolwork, kids benefit not only in the classroom but far beyond it. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Get diet and wellness tips to help your kids stay healthy and happy. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. El nokali NE, Bachman HJ, Votruba-drzal E. Parent involvement and children's academic and social development in elementary school. Child Dev. 2010;81(3):988-1005. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01447.x Topor DR, Keane SP, Shelton TL, Calkins SD. Parent involvement and student academic performance: A multiple mediational analysis. J Prev Interv Community. 2010;38(3):183-97. doi:10.1080/10852352.2010.486297 Gonzalez-DeHass AR. Parent Involvement for Motivated Learners: Encouraging Self-Directed and Resilient Students. Philadelphia, PA: Routledge; 2019. Lara L, Saracostti M. Effect of parental involvement on children's academic achievement in Chile. Front Psychol. 2019;10:1464. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01464 Hayakawa M, Giovanelli A, Englund MM, Reynolds AJ. Not just academics: Paths of longitudinal effects from parent involvement to substance abuse in emerging adulthood. J Adolesc Health. 2016;58(4):433-439. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.11.007 El Nokali NE, Bachman HJ, Votruba-Drzal E. Parent involvement and children's academic and social development in elementary school. Child Dev. 2010;81(3):988-1005. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01447.x Fiorilli C, Grimaldi capitello T, Barni D, Buonomo I, Gentile S. Predicting adolescent depression: The interrelated roles of self-esteem and interpersonal stressors. Front Psychol. 2019;10:565. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00565 Additional Reading Hornby G, Lafaele R. Barriers to parental involvement in education: An explanatory model. Educational Review. 2010;63(1):37-52.