Parent Involvement...Good, Bad, or Both?

I wrote this reflection in response to the article that can be found on this website:
http://www.edarticle.com/view/printview-2587.html

Parent involvement has been and is an often discussed topic in schools among teachers and administrators. I chose to reflect on the article by Ronnie Phillips about the importance of this issue because I feel it is a necessary part of student success. As I have seen in the schools I have visited there are always the parents who are involved and then the ones that won’t get near the school with a fifty foot pole. The article expresses the benefits of parent involvement which I feel all to be true but I am also a firm believer that too much involvement could possibly have a negative effect on a child’s ability to succeed.
The idea that a parent who is involved provides a more accessible and learning geared environment is none other than the truth. A parent who is involved is sending the message to their child that they value education. But what happens when a young learner is put under pressure by the presence of an overbearing or too involved mom or dad? This question arose when I was reading the article and I feel that as a future educator it is a legitimate question to ask.
Recently it has become apparent that in the academic setting children are being put under a great deal or pressure to perform. Standardized testing and No Child Left Behind have set the stakes high for each individual in every one of our schools today. With this being said I can see where too much parent involvement can have a child feeling much more heat. It is my belief that children should learn to express themselves and be comfortable in the classroom and who is allowed to judge of whether a parents presence is a positive or negative influence?
Personally, my mom was a room mother as well as a substitute teacher during my elementary school years. For the most part I can say that I had no qualms about her being in the school on any given day of the week. It was at times a struggle when she was my teacher for the day and I did not know where to draw the line between knowing she was my mom and having to pretend she was the teacher. My mother also did not require certain times for me to do homework or put pressure on me to perform in ways I was not capable.
The truth of the matter is when I experienced parent involvement the education system was not the same as it is today. I now see children get quiet, embarrassed, or almost unrecognizable when their parents are present today. School teachers are the ones who can recognize this change the most and I feel it is their job to keep the needs of the child their first priority. As for the article I am not disagreeing but only trying to look at things from the other side.