Sara Park Scattergood
reprinted from LIFE IN AMERICA, USA Today; January 1990
Sara Park Scattergood is the founder and past Executive Director of Education for Parenting (now Educating Children for Parenting®). "Unlike traditional programs designed to help curb teenage pregnancy, Education for Parenting is offered well before students become sexually active."

Teenage pregnancy and child abuse are on the rise in the U.S. approximately 1,000,000 teenagers become pregnant in this country every year -- that's one American teen in 10, compared with fewer than one in 20 in England, France, or Canada, and one in 30 in Sweden.

In terms of child abuse, more than 2,000,000 children are reported abused in the U.S. each year. (Numerous other cases go unreported.) Approximately 40% of abused and neglected children are of pre-school age and almost 25% are teenagers. The most recent data available from 34 states shows there were an estimated 1,200 child abuse and neglect fatalities in 1986 -- an increase of 23% over 1985.

The harmful effects of child abuse and teen pregnancy impact all levels of our society, regardless of race or socioeconomic status. For those young women who become teen parents, the promise of a viable future appears beyond reach. The sad reality for the teen mother is that she receives half the lifetime earnings of a woman who waits until age 20 to have her first child. Most teen mothers drop out of school and often become a financial drain on society. Without marketable job skills, they are unable to create opportunities for themselves to advance in our highly competitive and technological society.

Teen mothers also are more likely to be child abusers because they lack the maturity to handle parenting and have no training in basic human development. Because of this lack of preparation, these youngsters tend to follow their parents' behaviors in child rearing, which often are far from healthy. Essentially, too few children in our society are being prepared in any way to care for the next generation competently. The consequences could be devastating for their children.

In 1978, an interdisciplinary team of concerned professionals in Philadelphia joined together to crate a curriculum for the teaching of parenting to children -- "the parents of the future." The team was led by Henri Parens, director of the Early Child Development Program and research professor of psychiatry of the Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute of the Medical College of Pennsylvania, and included six doctors and social workers from the Institute. The team was joined by Julie Currie and myself, teachers from Germantown Friends' School in Philadelphia.

Our team's first objective was to put together a body of information that would be a basic theoretical foundation for the building of an Education for Parenting curriculum, envisioned for students in grades kindergarten through 12. It soon became apparent that the ideas generated needed to be tested so that our group might learn first-hand what could be taught to school children and at what ages. We had to know if our curriculum could raise students' awareness of the complexity of parenting, highlight the critical issues, teach skills in child rearing, and focus on the important aspects of child development.

To test the ideas, Currie and I sought funds that would allow us to experiment in a school setting at Germantown Friends. Through these teaching experiences, our team began to identify methods and materials most appropriate for use with students at different ages. In the belief that schoolchildren learn most readily when theory is confirmed through direct observation, a central part of the curriculum is a live laboratory experience.

Babies and their parents come into the classroom on a monthly basis so that students as young as six years old can observe and track the physical, emotional, and cognitive growth and development of the infants. Students have the unique opportunity to observe the interaction between mother and/or father and child. They learn that each infant has its own distinct temperament and capabilities that influence the manner and rate in which he or she develops. Depending upon their age, they also read about babies, keep a journal on the infant they are studying, and learn how to estimate the costs of feeding, clothing, schooling, etc. Prior to the baby's visit, the students practice analytical and planning skills and then discuss how successful these proved, ultimately helping them to understand the responsibility inherent in parenting. It is this interactive learning and live observation at an age early enough to shape behavior that gives the project uniqueness and strength.

The pilot program worked so well at Germantown Friends that the curriculum was implemented in 1988 at other independent academic institutions, including Abdington Friends, Baldwin, Friends Central, Friends Select, Moorestown Friends, William Penn Charter, Shipley, Springside, and Wilmington Friends schools, as well as Chestnut Hill Academy.

convincing other schools of our program's benefits was not easy. They were hesitant to initiate some of its innovative aspects -- even the relatively simple teaching tool of having an infant and parent visit the classroom. Influencing the thinking of school administrators to accept the importance of such a program required long, continuing education, advocacy, and support. Nevertheless, through the staff's diligence and the belief of those touched by the program, it has grown, and was introduced into the Philadelphia Public School System in 1985. More recently, school districts in New York City, Chicago, and Alaska have adopted the curriculum.

Education for Parenting has the purpose of bringing parenting in to the school as a subject of study. In the past, mothers taught their daughters how to parent, and the daughters, in their turn, became the principal parent. Today, more than 50% of mothers with children under the age of one year work outside the home, a figure that is increasing. The parenting of today and of tomorrow must be done by both fathers and mothers, and must be taught to boys and girls in school.

Schools validate what our society considers preparation for important work. In them, you learn skills that some day will let you be a lawyer, doctor, teacher, etc. If parenting is to be viewed by children in our society as important work, then that work must be validated as vital by being made a subject of study and reflection, and developing understanding and skill from kindergarten up. If taught about parenting in school, young children will discover that it is something that can and must be learned.

American families are undergoing fundamental transformation. Mobility in search of jobs means the dismantling of the extended family support structure. Both parents working outside the home means increased need for support of families with young children. The growth in the number of single-parent households means children at risk in our society in ways we have not experienced since the days youngsters also worked outside the home for pay. This transformation of family life requires a new relationship between schools and families.

The new role of schools is to teach skills and values which will help children become competent parents in these situations. Schools now must prepare students not simply for employment outside the home for pay, but for the work -- at least as valuable to the society -- that is the skill and value of parenting.

In some areas where family structure is not dependable and other organizations -- such as social service agencies and religious institutions -- find themselves short of funds and overwhelmed, schools must become day-long family resource centers. It is acknowledged everywhere that schools must upgrade the teaching of academic skills. Often, this can be done best in an environment where young children are learning in school what it means to be cared for and to care for others. Observing the developmental stages of infants and the parenting skills which correspond with that development teach children that all life requires -- and benefits from -- education.

Why do teenage girls become mothers? It is not that they lack information about contraception. Why do so many minorities drop out of high school? It is not the lack of inherent intelligence. Can it be that they did not learn in their early education that parenting is a skill and a competence, not too different from reading, writing, and arithmetic? All require self-confidence, validation by adults, and a process of developing competencies. The Education for Parenting program does just what it says -- educating schoolchildren in the skills, demands, rewards, and pride of parenting. It is a process involving a structured curriculum, developing analytic and reflective capacities that apply other academic sills to the fascination young children have with babies and family life. This crosses misplaced barriers in our society and brings family life into schools and education into parenting.

Our ultimate goal is to let students experience first-hand some of the pleasures, hardships, and responsibilities associated with caring for a baby. We want them to learn that parenting involves protecting and nurturing the developing person. The programs tresses the importance of positive parental interaction with the baby, which provides the first ongoing, in-depth human relationship. The students are taught how important it is that parents provide an environment where the baby can explore and experiment in order to become competent and secure. Our hope is that, once students realize how much time, energy, knowledge, expense, and skill are required for healthy parenting, they will think twice before getting involved in situations they will regret later.

In addition, many of the fantasies of being a parent are dispelled, and students see the negative consequences of becoming parents before they are emotionally, developmentally, and financially ready. They learn that, in unplanned pregnancies, everyone involved is hurt, including the teenage parents, the baby, and, many times, the grandparents who often take over much of the child raising. The program also strives to increase students' sensitivity to other family members.

Importance of early intervention

Unlike traditional programs designed to help curb teenage pregnancy, Education for Parenting is offered well before students become sexually active. According to the most recent available data, of 4,200,000 girls 15-19 years old who were sexually active, 3,600,000 were not married and 1,000,000 became pregnant. Therefore, the main focus is in the elementary and junior high school years. Although we expect to have an effect on decreasing the teen pregnancy rate, we do not teach birth control or sex education. Rather, we provide children with an understanding of why they would not want to be a teen parent and how their lives would be affected adversely if the became parents prematurely.

Since the nation's teen pregnancy problem affects all of us, economically as well as socially, teaching the responsibilities involved in parenting to youngsters at an early age is critical. This is particularly important for children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and may never have known the security and warmth of a caring household environment.

With the appropriate classroom teaching, problems such as child abuse, school dropouts, drug and alcohol use, and single-parent families can be decreased significantly. In addition, school human development programs need to be taught at a much earlier age. At present, they usually are begun on the secondary level, by which time many students already have dropped out, become unwed parents, or developed debilitating emotional problems. The solution very well may lie in early intervention -- before any serious damage takes place.

Return to Articles