Date

Governor Rod Blagojevich
Office of the Governor
207 State House,
Springfield, IL 62706

Dear Governor Blagojevich,

Parenting is the toughest job for which we receive no training. Why not? Wouldn’t it be easier and more cost effective to build strong Illinois parents than to repair broken Illinois children?

The easiest way to reach ALL Illinois parents is to prepare future parents – to provide child-rearing classes for children and teenagers.

Recent research has taught us how early experiences shape children’s physical and mental growth. We learned how different parenting practices influence children’s development and behavior. Why not impart this knowledge to children and teenagers before most of them become parents? Why not prepare them to raise physically and mentally healthy children? Parenting education for children and teens can even improve the academic performance of the next generation.

Parenting classes can address issues of abuse, neglect and other early childhood deprivations which cause permanent neurological damage that impairs the ability to concentrate, to reason, to control impulses, to empathize with others and learn from the consequences of behavior. Illinois potential parents need to know that everyday interactions with children zero to three can be extremely powerful in shaping language development, reading and the learning capacity of their future children.

Parenting preparation can enhance the capacity for nurturing and maintaining healthy relationships among today’s children and teens preventing violence and teen pregnancy..

We heartily support your efforts to provide universal pre-school for Illinois children. Add parenting education in the schools and perhaps we’ll save some Illinois children from being broken before they even get to preschool.

Family and Consumer Science teachers across Illinois teach a smattering of child development and parenting to Illinois middle school and high school students.

Governor Blagojevic, you will be a hero to us and our children and our children’s children. We ask you to begin plans to provide parenting education to all students in our schools sometime before they graduate from high school. As a beginning, we encourage you to visit www.PrepareTomorrowsParents.org where you can find out more about what is being done throughout the nation to prepare tomorrow’s parents.

Sincerely,

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