Nursery World - 'Schools should teach parenting'

Parenting and managing personal finances should be on the national curriculum in Britain's schools instead of citizenship, delegates at a parenting conference in London were told. Mary Crowley, director of the Parenting Education and Support Forum, a national umbrella body for practitioners who work with parents, argued for 'parenthood education in schools to teach children how to be good parents'.

Mary Crowley, director of the Parenting Education and Support Forum, a national umbrella body for practitioners who work with parents, argued for 'parenthood education in schools to teach children how to be good parents'.

At the conference, called 'Parenting Programmes: Their Development, Delivery and Effectiveness', she cited a recent survey that had found that children wanted to know more about parenting and financial management than about citizenship.

'Unless we break the cycle, children will parent as they were parented,'

said Mrs Crowley. 'Often the first baby they hold is their own and it is a huge shock for them.'

Although parenting programmes were an effective way to create healthier families and prevent social problems, she said, some parents did not or could not attend them 'because their lives are much too chaotic'.

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