PARENTING
The facts
• The portions of the brain which control vision, hearing and language development all start developing and peak before a child reaches the age of 18 months old
• Children begin to learn language and literacy even before they speak their first words
• By the age of three, 50 per cent of our language is in place and, by five, it’s 85 per cent
• By the age of four, a child’s brain is 90 per cent of its adult size
• Like the construction of a house, our brains are built from the bottom up – early experiences literally shape how the brain gets built
• A strong foundation in the early years increases the probability of a healthy happy child – a weak foundation increases the odds of later difficulties, sometimes lasting through the child’s life
(Source: Joining the Dots)
information on parenting and relationships in the antenatal syllabus could also be beneficial. Other factors PAS would like to see include a focus
on early years with universal services such as health visiting to provide a non-stigmatising approach accessible to all parents. PAS also believe parents need accessible, affordable and flexible childcare to enable them to take up employment opportunities. This is especially true for parents who have a child affected by disabilities. PAS’ spokeswoman added: “The majority of calls to ParentLine Scotland are from parents of teenagers. Currently there are few services out there for parents of teenagers and consideration has to be given on how best to support parents through the teenage years.” Parenting remains much in vogue in the mainstream media. Television reality shows like Supernanny and Nanny 911 have turned parenting into entertainment but their popularity reinforces the view that parents are often at sea about where to get advice. Whether or not you agree with the ‘naughty step’ mantra of these programmes, all parenting support has its place and in the right context can be helpful, according to Jackie Tolland, director of Parent Network Scotland (PNS) – a parentrun organisation providing education and support to help parents improve their parenting, communication and relationship skills. She said: “However, every family is different so we should never use a prescriptive programme with families as they all have different strengths and challenges. If we treat everyone the same, they will start to feel even more isolated. We need to allow and support parents
26 / Holyrood / 31 October 2011
to find their own path through the maze of parenting information and expertise. “PNS is unique in the way it offers support to
parents. The support comes from parents who have walked the walk. Parents who have brought up children, have worked through and continue to work through issues and who realise that these techniques actually work.” A mum herself, Tolland believes one of the main issues facing parents today, is “feeling frustration” and not knowing where to turn or what to do when times get tough. “Parents can also feel like a failure and lack confidence in asking for help, thinking that they are alone in feeling the way they do,” she added. PNS offers flexible parenting programmes to suit
both the individual and groups. These range from full parenting workshops which run for about eight weeks to small taster and information courses taking a couple of hours. These workshops are run by trained facilitators,
who are all parents who have been through the programme themselves. Speaking about PNS’ long-term goals, Tolland
said: “We want to build networks of parents so that more parents feel supported by one another in their community. There is a huge gap that needs to be filled and we want to help parents do that. We want parents to be able to ask for help without feeling judged and to be supported by someone who has experiences to share. We want parents to be able to gain access to real opportunities within their own
community whether gaining qualifications or learning new skills that are transferable.” PNS has also created a programme which is designed to build on the strengths that parents already have. The organisation says parental capacity building is about topping up and adding to the abilities that someone already has, for example, helping a parent to build their communication skills, which will help them to improve their interactions with their children’s teachers, doctors and others, while increasing their own confidence as they improve their skills. Tolland added: “By building on their own capacity,
parents are also able to become better role models for their children.” Angela Constance is determined that the national parenting strategy will benefit Scotland’s children. “I am absolutely committed and passionate about the need to do more for parents. As a country, we need to recognise the crucial work of parents. The Scottish Government is taking the brave and
bold step into shifting resources into the early years, early intervention and work with parents and parenting is all part of that. As we progress with the Change Fund and the early years task force, parents and parenting will have a big focus in that work, as a very tangible and meaningful here and now result. We do need to develop a meaningful, credible parenting strategy because we are serious about our work with parents. In that context, it is a very exciting time.”
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