Clare Simpson: project manager, Parenting across Scotland
Policy panacea to cure all society's ills or the cause of them?
Parents and how they parent have been under scrutiny in recent
years. Parents get a negative press; overwhelmingly, that standards
in parenting are declining. Is this the case? Or, in fact, is the
job of parenting getting harder in an increasingly complex world?
Whichever is right, both suggest that parents could do with more
help.
The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a national
parenting strategy and making Scotland the best place in the world
to bring up children. If the government stated its intention to
intervene in the economics of the country, to improve the nation's
health, to prevent crime or to educate its young, people would
regard these as natural functions of government. And yet, the very
mention of a national parenting strategy, is likely to bring with
it knee-jerk accusations of 'nanny state'. But supporting families
is exactly about all those functions that we generally accept as
being the job of government - rebuilding our failing economy,
improving our health, preventing crime and educating children. We
need to recognise the value of good parenting more and provide more
support to parents before they fail rather than picking up the
pieces afterwards. It is critical to the future of our country that
we do so; beyond this, it is the right thing to do - Scotland's
families deserve no less.
In order to encourage people to discuss, debate and contribute
to the national parenting strategy, Parenting across Scotland,
invited a wide variety of organisations and individuals to submit
an article about any aspect of parenting. When we asked people for
contributions, we did not know what to expect. What we got was
impressive: passionate essays from people who really care about
parenting and who want to see Scotland change how it supports
families. They highlight the hot topics and also the many
challenges to designing a more coherent approach to supporting
families.
Although the subject matter in this collection is wide, it does
not cover the full picture. Some gaps reflect the lack of services
or inclusion in current policy thinking and research; for example,
there are few articles about parenting teenagers (though a third of
all calls to ParentLine are from parents of teenagers) and none at
all about parenting in black and minority ethnic families. These
are important topics for the parenting strategy.
Neither does the collection consider parenting in its wider
context - it would have doubled or trebled in size. Parenting isn't
a discrete activity isolated from the environment - where we live,
how work is configured, the childcare available, and whether we can
get on a bus with a buggy - the list goes on - all make a
difference.
We did not specify topics for contributors and the submissions
cover a wide variety of subjects including personal accounts of the
pleasures and problems of parenting; the findings from research;
and practical examples of supporting parents drawn from Scotland
and abroad. All make a vital contribution to developing a national
strategy. And together they provide a vision for the future.
Although we have presented each article as standalone, they are
interconnected, and sometimes the same information is repeated by
different contributors. Although we have grouped the articles into
the six themes below, this is more to do with ease of reading than
to demarcate articles. Many of them fit all the themes, simply
because parenting cuts across so many aspects.
Being a parent is not about a set of rules to follow to produce
a happy, well-adjusted young person. If it were, in some ways, it
would be a lot easier. In others, it would be far less interesting.
Whoever the parent is (and I include the state as corporate
parent), families are essentially about relationships and how
people relate both within their families and from them to the wider
world. At its best, parenting is about love, kindness and caring.
For many parents, particularly those in difficult circumstances,
this is not easy to achieve and they may need extra help. This
section looks at what it means to be a parent; being a father; how
differing family backgrounds affect people; and how different
countries help families.
With the Scottish Government considering a national parenting
strategy, contributors discuss what needs to happen to make
Scotland the best place in the world to bring up children. Children
usually come with families, which is why 'getting it right for
every child' generally means getting it right for every family. The
critical place of supporting parents in children's early years; the
state's role as corporate parent; and the importance of
communication are all considered in the light of the proposed
parenting strategy and better support for families.
The early years have received considerable attention as a
critical time in child development and a vital intervention point
for improving children's lives. Investing in the early years pays
considerable dividends later on. While the early years can be
difficult for parents, the teenage years throw up their own
problems and many parents struggle to manage. Writers in this
section look at the importance of these times in a child's life;
the research findings; and effective approaches to parenting and
family support.
Not all families have equal chances. In particular, children in
families struggling with substance misuse, those affected by
domestic abuse, and parents with mental health difficulties fare
worse than others. More children are affected by a parent's
imprisonment than by divorce. Evidence shows that parents on a low
income are not worse parents, but they do struggle against greater
odds, and with changes to welfare benefits, the pressures on
low-income families are set to increase. As well as vital universal
services in the early years, families with specific difficulties
may need tailored or intensive help. The articles in this section
consider the issues for, and ways of helping, families under
pressure.
Over the past few decades, there have been fundamental changes
to the family. Societal changes, such as the role of women,
acceptance of difference in sexual orientation, and policy changes,
such as to divorce and employment, mean that families are probably
more heterogeneous than ever before. This makes it difficult to
design policies responsive to families which are increasingly
different, disjointed and yet intimately and complexly connected to
other families. In this section, contributors cover the changing
shape of the family (for example, lone parents and adoptive
parents) and consider what happens when families separate.
There is much good practice already in Scotland which indicates
how families can be supported. This section highlights examples
from around Scotland including educational projects, psychology,
parenting programmes, helpline practice and work with young
offender fathers. Children's educational outcomes vary widely and
are closely linked to their backgrounds. Parental involvement in
their children's education can make a considerable difference. In
this section, contributors consider how this might be achieved and
describe various interventions designed to help with children's
behavioural problems.
Looking ahead
A parenting strategy has to consider parenting as an activity
which takes place within and among families, but must also deal
with the wider context within which families operate. It must
create a society which is considerate of families and creates
conditions in which families can thrive, rather than constantly
struggle.
We hope that this collection contributes to the debate on
Scotland's national parenting strategy; what it means to be a
parent in Scotland today; and how we best support families.
We also hope it goes some way towards answering the question:
Scotland: the best place in the world to bring up
children?