David Dooley
ddooley@bak.rr.com
David Dooley teaches sixth grade math and science at Sequoia Middle School in Bakersfield City School District in California. Teaching is his second career. He is a long-time proponent of parenting education for young people as primary prevention, and a long-time supporter of Prepare Tomorrow's Parents.

There's a colossal difference between prevention and intervention, and lately intervention programs are calling themselves prevention and this isn't helpful. I found a terrific allegory that illustrates the difference. Hat tip the Prevention Institute.

While walking along a river, a passerby notices that someone in the water is drowning. After pulling the person ashore, the rescuer notices another person in the river in need of help. Before long, the river is filled with drowning people, and more rescuers are required to assist the first rescuer. Unfortunately, some people are not saved, and others fall back into the river after they have been pulled ashore. At this time, one of the rescuers starts walking upstream. "Where are you going?!?!" the other rescuers scream. The rescuer replies, "I'm going upstream to see why people keep falling into the river." As it turns out, the bridge across the river has a hole through which people are falling. The upstream rescuer realizes that fixing the hole will prevent people from falling into the river in the first place.

Oughtn't limited resources be directed as far upstream as possible? And shouldn't there be some kind of prevention that would in one generation eliminate child abuse, substance abuse, domestic violence, teen pregnancy, and gang violence?

Isn't there a common denominator? Aren't child abuse and domestic violence a kind of twisted parenting? Don't teens often use drugs to escape from unsatisfactory family relationships? Don't girls often use sex to attract the male attention they aren't getting from their fathers? And don't they often say they want a baby so someone will love them? And isn't to find a sense of belonging one of the reasons kids join gangs? Good parenting is so important! Healthy communities stem from healthy families, and healthy families stem from healthy parenting.

If we want a brighter future we must improve the quality of parenting in our community. There are two ways to approach this…one downstream and one upstream. The downstream approach is to identify, round up, and change the parenting of every adult who needs intervention, bearing in mind that some parents may not recognize they have poor parenting skills, may not be motivated to change their behavior, will face practical and psychological obstacles, and will have already hurt their children. The upstream approach is to teach best parenting behaviors and practices to young people, kids, in an effort to prepare them for the most important job they'll have as adults.

How can young people be reached? Here's an idea. Permanent multimedia public service announcement campaigns on radio, television, billboards, print, and the internet that teach kids how to engage in parenting behaviors and practices generally recognized as supporting the healthy physical, emotional, and intellectual development of children, and reject parenting behaviors and practices that disrupt the healthy development of children. I can imagine professionally done, high energy, public service announcements narrated by appealing school age spokespersons.

It would take a generation to see the results. But it's worth a try.

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