Harriet Heath, Ph.D.,
The Parent Center, Bryn Mawr College;
and Dana McDermott, Ph.D. School for New Learning, DePaul University
dmcderm2@depaul.edu

Intro: Why Teach Parenting to Students?

Educating students for their future role as parents is a preventive measure. Students learn that there are multiple ways of nurturing a child. You can rock a crying infant, walk with her, sing to her, even go for a drive. You do not need to physically hurt the child. Students studying parenting also learn what to expect of infants. They learn that babies’ cries are their expressions of their needs. In addition, students learn that nurturing a child is a twenty-four-hour job seven days a week that they are not ready to undertake.

Traditionally, parenting is a subject that has not been routinely taught. People used to gain knowledge about child development and nurturing children by observing younger siblings being cared for or watching aunts and uncles in the extended family. As families have become smaller or no longer live near each other, these early experiences, and the knowledge gained from them, have become limited.

Read the comprehensive article in pdf format at:
www.preparetomorrowsparents.org/EducatingStudentsFutureParents.pdf

(originally published by Family Support America)

Return to Articles