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 561/620-0256.
Connecticut
Coalition for Child Development Education
(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 Connecticut to provide education in child development,
child safety, the needs of children, and parenting skills to all
students in our schools. PTP, a national organization, has designated
the month between Mother's Day and Father's Day "Prepare Tomorrow's
Parents Month."
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 Connecticut psychologist
found that only about 8% of students take the elective child development
course in our high schools.
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 165 Capitol Ave.,
Hartford, CT 06106 mark.mcquillan@ct.gov; and Gov. Jodi Rell at
210 Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT 06106 governor.rell@ct.gov; and ask
them to see that this is done.
(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 Connecticut.
Groton:
"A 2-year-old girl died early Saturday, less than 48 hours
after police say her mother's boyfriend brutally assaulted her because
she wouldn't stop crying." (The Day, 5/3/97)
New
London: "A sailor stationed at the Groton submarine base has
been accused of seriously injuring his 6-month-old son…The
child (was) apparently suffering from shaken baby syndrome."
The father said he "became upset when his son wouldn't stop
crying." (The New Haven Register)
New
Haven: "A 2-year-old Shelton Avenue boy remained in stable
condition Friday in a hospital burn unit in Boston, a day after
suffering second-degree burns over 40 percent of his body from scalding
bath water." The mother's boyfriend "told police he placed
the tot in the bathtub and left the room for 'a short period of
time." (The New Haven Register), 1/11/02)
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 Hartford Courant, 8/22/02)
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 Connecticut residents to write
to their legislators and state officials between Mother's Day and
Father's Day asking that education in child safety and parenting
skills be taught to all students in our state. PTP has designated
these weeks Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month.
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 behaviorand 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 University of Iowa study found that without
intervention, high school students had relatively little knowledge
about child development; boys knew the least and were more apt to
choose punishment and abuse to manage children's behavior.
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 Connecticut psychologist found that only about
8% of students take the elective child development course in our
high schools.
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 165 Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT
06106 mark.mcquillan@ct.gov, and Gov. Jodi Rell at 210 Capitol Ave.
Hartford, CT 06106 governor.rell@ct.gov, and ask them to see that
this is done. Providing good parenting to the next generation of
children is just as important as teaching them to read and write.
The
Connecticut Coalition for Child Development Education,
formerly the Connecticut Coalition for Parenting Education is comprised
of approximately 40 people and organizations dedicated to bringing
education in child safety, child development and parenting skills
to all Connecticut students sometime before they graduate from high
school. Members include Yale psychology professor Edward Zigler,
who helped launch Head Start, Yale child psychiatrists Kyle Pruett
and James Comer, the Connecticut Department of Children and Families,
the Mental Health Association of Connecticut; the Connecticut Child
Advocate, pediatricians, psychologists, social workers, parents,
and other state residents.
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
|