Editorial: Parenting support must reach those in need
Ravi Chandiramani
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The government doesn't bring up children, parents do. We often hear this maxim from those in power and their detractors alike.
However, parents do benefit from a bit of guidance now and then to make sense of the behaviour of their offspring and handle the modern-day pressures of bringing up a family.
Last weekend the government unveiled its Parent Know-How programme, a cluster of projects giving parents access to information via the web, phone and text (see p2). It includes a telephone helpline service, an online community to help separated dads stay in touch with children and an advice line on mental health issues.
There is also a notable emphasis on online peer support. The Netmums website, already live, is supported by advice from health visitors. There will also be an online forum for dads plus a "virtual school gate" for parents of older children.
The £44m pumped into Parent Know-How alone won't set the world alight. But this initiative is an important acknowledgement that neither the government nor any single organisation has all the answers - and that the government's role should be to facilitate the pursuit of them.
Bringing people together in this way can have a cathartic effect, triggering the realisation that no parent brings up their child in a vacuum, and recognising common challenges and concerns, such as academic achievement, health and bullying. Parent Know-How is itself part of a package of measures set out in The Children's Plan - local authorities are to have expert parenting advisers while parent support advisers inside schools will be expanded.
There are initiatives under way to empower, as well as help, parents. Chief among them is a national parents' panel to advise on policies and local authority parents' charters, in which children's services departments will have to state the minimum level of support parents can receive.
The biggest challenge will be ensuring these new channels of advice and support do not become the sole preserve of the affluent and assertive and do reach those parents most in need. Bright children from disadvantaged backgrounds are overtaken in ability by less bright children from well-off households from about 22 months. This startling statistic highlights the importance of ensuring deprived families aren't excluded from this new appetite for parental empowerment.