Helen Dent, chief executive of the Family Welfare Association, said the Government had shown readiness to help families through initiatives such as Sure Start and the Children's Fund and it should not 'involve the criminal justice system'.
The association, a charity that concentrates on helping poorer families, said the term 'feckless parents' provided a banner headline for the press, but was 'out of sync with other Government measures which have been very supportive to families'.
Gillian Pugh, chief executive of Coram Family, which provides care for vulnerable children and their families, said parenting orders would not help families where children are exhibiting challenging behaviour.
She said Coram's use of specialist support services in King's Cross and Greenwich in London had shown the benefit of 'providing support early enough before problems become entrenched, and in making it available to all families'.
A clinical psychologist runs groups for parents of three- and four-year-olds and their nursery workers to manage challenging behaviour at the Thomas Coram Early Excellence Centre in King's Cross. In Thamesmead, Greenwich, home-school link workers are involved in primary schools with parents and their children who are at risk of being excluded from school.
Parenting orders were introduced under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, and councils can apply for them to be imposed if a child has committed a criminal offence, has been truanting or has behaved antisocially on the streets.
The orders, imposed by the courts, can force parents to attend classes that aim to teach them how to be better parents.
Ms Pugh said, 'Increasingly, parents are referring themselves and choosing to join parenting groups. Our experience is that, given a supportive environment and an element of choice and cultural relevance, parents wish to take responsibility for making good decisions for themselves and for their families.'
However, Mary MacLeod, chief executive of the National Family and Parenting Institute, said, 'Many parents who have experienced the support offered under parenting orders have found them very helpful.'
But she added, 'Changing a public culture of rudeness and disrespect is a challenge that parenting orders alone will not fix.'
