Going back to school
These are clearly difficult times for Britain’s children. In February, a well-known children’s charity published a critical report about the state of the nation’s childhood. This was swiftly followed by yet another high profile case of teenage parenthood. So my recent visit to a local high school to launch my new Preparenting Programme for Young People couldn’t have happened at a better time.
The Preparenting Programme for Young People works by teaching students to look at parenthood from a wider perspective than they’re currently used to. Over the course of three sessions, they’ll work with their teacher to address what I consider to be the three key areas of preparing for parenting: choices, changes and challenges.
From preliminary discussions with the school in question, I can already see that teachers are optimistic about the project. It will give them an opportunity to discuss with their students a whole range of issues. It will allow students to air their own views on subjects that have previously not been considered as part of the whole parenting agenda. In particular, it will encourage them to consider the emotional issues which surround parenthood - not just the physical ‘nuts and bolts’ of having and raising a child.
Above all, the project will help students to understand the internal and external pressures that they face as teenagers and, in so doing, help them to understand that they do indeed have control over their futures. They really can make informed choices. Likewise, the programme will help them come to terms with the idea that parenthood is a real responsibility, bringing not just financial and physical differences, but also social and mental changes. Finally, students will learn about the challenges that parents should expect to encounter during parenthood.
Integral to the programme are wider themes that I don’t think can be dissociated from parenthood and growing up. These include the importance of relationships, of teamwork and the need to consider that other people matter just as much as they do.
I’m well aware that preparing the ‘adults of tomorrow’ to meet the physical and emotional strains of parenthood is going to be quite a challenge. To help schools meet that challenge, I’d like to see the Preparenting Programme for Young People extended beyond my original pilot project. Rolled out to include more schools, we can make real changes to the society in which we live.
© Christine Meadows