SAMPLE OP
EDS FOR
Personalize
these and send to your local
newspapers. Check for your local papers at the CT Press List. Be sure to check
submission guidelines of each paper. For more help,
go to the Advocacy chapter of Prepare Tomorrow’s Parents’ Guide, which includes
working with media, at www.preparetomorrowsparents.org/guide5.pdf, or contact Prepare Tomorrow’s Parents at info@preparetomorrowsparents.org or 1-888-PARENTS)
(Submitted by Joan Barbuto; be sure to adapt it before
submitting to your local papers)
Prepare Tomorrow's Parents
The Connecticut Coalition for Child Development Education and a national
organization, Prepare Tomorrow's Parents (PTP), have launched a campaign in
The organizations believe it is crucial that all parents know how to nurture
their children and to provide in the children's early years what they need to
best promote the social, emotional and intellectual development young children
need to succeed in school and in life. The only way we can provide this
information to all parents and improve the quality of our society is to teach
it to tomorrow's parents-the students in school today.
Although there is a lot of talk about universal preschool today, the years of
most importance to the formation of a child's character are the birth to four years,
when children spend most of their time with their parents The first years
of life are the years in which the fundamentals of character are hard-wired
into the brain. They are the years in which the child learns to love and to
trust if he is able to form a secure attachment to parents or at least one
significant adult. Research has shown that this is the basis for a mentally and
emotionally healthy personality. Research by psychiatrists have shown that
children who do not form this bond (because of neglect, abuse, sickness or
depression in the parent, or poor parenting) are apt to develop serious
emotional problems and may even become sociopaths. Such children may vandalize,
assault other children and family members, harm themselves, set fires, and can
even kill others, according to psychiatrist Foster Cline, who has worked with
these children for many years. If intervention isn't made before about age 7,
he says that most cannot be helped.
When children enter kindergarten, they need to be able to pay attention to the
teacher, respect others, have a sense of responsibility, be able to understand
and control their emotions, have empathy for other children and know how to
interact with them. These skills are just as important as recognizing letters
and numbers, spelling their name, and enjoying books. There are good ways of
developing these social and emotional skills during a child's first few years,
and these can and should be taught to all parents. But few parents take a
parenting course, and a survey by a
Parenting education needs to be part of every school curriculum and needs to
reach every young person. We are asking people to write to Commissioner of
Education Dr. Mark McQuillan at
(Submitted by Joan Barbuto; be sure to adapt it before
submitting to your local papers)
Prepare Tomorrow's Parents
Here are a few quotes from news articles
over the years which show why education in child development and parenting
skills is sorely needed in
Hartford: "Frustrated that her infant wouldn't stop crying, a
21-year-old Hartford mother fed her 5-week-old boy a cocktail of formula
and a powerful, addictive painkiller"… the boy was rushed to a
hospital…"where he was initially listed in critical condition." (The
Incidents like this show that some people, especially young men, are woefully
ignorant of how to deal with infants and children and when they can't manage
them, they lose control. We need parenting education in our schools,
first of all, because it can save children's lives. All our young people
need to be taught the basics of infant and child safety, such as never
shaking a baby or leaving a young child unattended in a tub.
They need to be taught why an infant cries and the many things they can
do to stop a baby from crying. But much more needs to be taught:
the responsibilities of parents, the physical, social and emotional needs
of infants and children, effective techniques for managing children,
physical and emotional abuse-what it is and how to prevent it; and
the importance of acknowledging a child's emotions, empathizing with him,
and helping him control them.
The Connecticut Coalition for Child Development Education and Prepare
Tomorrow's Parents (PTP) are urging
Parenting is the most important job most of us will do, yet many people
get no training for it. The Zero to Three survey of 3,000 parents and prospective
parents in 2000 showed that many participants were alarmingly ignorant about
childrearing. They had serious misconceptions about discipline and
behavior and unrealistic expectations about what activities children are
capable of at various stages of their development. About two-thirds of new
parents have not taken any parenting course, and about 40% never even read
anything about parenting, according to a 2000 Newsweek poll. The only way
we can reach everyone is to teach all our young people child development and
parenting skills in school.
Parenting education in schools works, according to research studies summarized
in "Preparing Tomorrow's Parents Today" published by The Parenting
Project. A
A Michigan State University Study found that students who had
taken parenting education classes were more knowledgeable about child
development, less likely to believe that infants are spoiled by responsible and
affectionate care, more likely to emphasize the importance of talking and
reading to children, and less likely to be authoritarian in their parenting
practices. And evaluations of children in school-based parenting programs
found that they became more empathetic and caring both in school and at
home, could relate to their families better, and were more likely to
postpone pregnancy until they were older. (You could take out this paragraph if
needed for word number limits.)
We need to teach all our young people what they need to provide to their
children from birth through the preschool years so they will develop the
foundations for loving and trusting, and the social and emotional skills they
will need to succeed in school and in life. Ways of developing these skills in
their children during their preschool years can be taught and should be taught
to all parents. But a survey by a
Parenting education needs to be part of every school curriculum and needs to
reach every young person. We are asking people to write Commissioner of Education Dr. Mark McQuillan at
The Connecticut Coalition for Child Development
Education, formerly the
Nine years of coalition experience with the legislature and Commissioners of
Education indicate the need for a groundswell of public support to bring about action.
For more information and to get involved, contact Joan Barbuto, Coordinator of
the Coalition, at joanbstone@aol.com or 203/269-1946.
Return
to the Connecticut Prepare Tomorrow’s Parents Month Index Page
Return to
Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month Index Page
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