Compulsary Parenting classes
During the last consultation at the 2009 autumn party conference, a lot of people spoke against compulsary parenting classes. I imagine many people present were thinking that they managed perfectly OK without them. Then there is the troublesome question of how should you raise children, how can the government decide that?
And yet...
It was Martin Narey of the Child Poverty Action Group who suggested the idea in a speech at Lib Dem conference (for background see http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/mar/03/welfare.socialexclusion)
More recently we have seen this shocking case of 2 boys horribly torturing another boy. We know that the quality of parenting these boys had was shockingly bad.
If parenting classes are not compulsary, these boys would not have gone to them.
They are extreme examples, but symptomatic of the fact that for many families, the skills needed to raise children are not being passed down from one generation to the next.
So if not compulsary classes, what would we advocate instead?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Green on -
I don't think alternatives were being advocated, there was just a fear of "nanny state" being a bit too literal. I would add that it would be another step forward of the expert-isation of everything, that undermines confidence rather than builds it.
But the more serious question is whether it would work. Or would it be a Passchendale solution: one that is very expensive, creates a lot of innocent victims, without actually helping very much the people that most need it? Would being forced to attend a parenting classes really have helped in this recent case? There's a good chance that the parents concerned would either have ignored the class or simply bunked off (and then what?). In my view the problem is the central one of how do help those that don't want to be helped? Which in this context leads to the question of how quickly we should take children away from their parents if things are going wrong.
I think we need to make parenting classes availalbe to those that want it (I suppose part of the Sure start programme - probably they already are). Parenting and relationships should be part of the general school curriculum. Social workers can recommend classes to particular cases. -
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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey G J Payne on -
I accept your point Matthew that we should take care not to be too prescriptive about parenting classes. I would imagine the issue of discipline would potentially be very contentious.
However by the same logic should we also oppose compulsary sex education? Sex education is far from perfect but probably does more harm than good.
Some children avoid compulsary education altogther, so compulsary parenting education will not educate everyone, but would educate many more than would otherwise be the case.
The alternative you propose is in extreme cases where a judgement has to be made to seperate a child from his parents. That is an example of the state having even more power to intervene. That has to be the very last resort, prior to which we must find better ways to intervene.
In the end, where you say "Parenting and relationships should be part of the general school curriculum." I am not sure there is really any difference between our positions. -
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Green on
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Maybe we were at cross-purposes. The idea I'm suspicious about would be forcing all propective or new parents attend parenting classes. It isn't a bad idea to make them available on a voluntary basis - though the fear is that a stigma would be attached to those that sign up. It's the compulsion bit that I need persuasion on.
Developing this thought a bit, I suppose you could tie attendance to child benefit. Another thought is that the challenge for parents changes as children grow older. What's needed is access to support throughout childhood.
Geoffrey G J Payne said:I accept your point Matthew that we should take care not to be too prescriptive about parenting classes. I would imagine the issue of discipline would potentially be very contentious.
However by the same logic should we also oppose compulsary sex education? Sex education is far from perfect but probably does more harm than good.
Some children avoid compulsary education altogther, so compulsary parenting education will not educate everyone, but would educate many more than would otherwise be the case.
The alternative you propose is in extreme cases where a judgement has to be made to seperate a child from his parents. That is an example of the state having even more power to intervene. That has to be the very last resort, prior to which we must find better ways to intervene.
In the end, where you say "Parenting and relationships should be part of the general school curriculum." I am not sure there is really any difference between our positions. -
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Permalink Reply by Pronoia on -
I believe parents are responsible for their children and, generally, they know best. Being responsible, they should also bear the responsibility for their children if they (the children) commit actions that would be judged a crime, if the children were older.
I believe parents should be fined, unless they volunteer to come to either parenting classes or ask for help to address their child's challenges. -
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Permalink Reply by Paul Bright on -
Parents need help not hipocrisy !
Nothing need be compulsory, simply provide free childcare and the parents will arrive.
The situation in the UK for families is very tough with extortionate housing costs, very
expensive public transport, dangerous roads and a general attitude that "children should
be seen and not heard" we must change to make the UK fair for families. Starting with
our conferences where childcare should be provided free of charge as a matter of course
as is the case on our ships where kids are respected and looked after well FREE of charge:
http://brightconnections.fr.gd/ -
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