SAMPLE
Personalize
these and send to your local
newspapers. Check for your local papers at the CT Press List. Be sure to check
submission guidelines of each paper. For more help,
go to the Advocacy chapter of Prepare Tomorrow’s Parents’ Guide, which includes
working with media, at www.preparetomorrowsparents.org/guide5.pdf, or contact Prepare Tomorrow’s Parents at info@preparetomorrowsparents.org or 1-888-PARENTS)
To the Editor:
Recent work and study with involvement from the Department of Children and
Families, the Connecticut State Board of Education, and the Coalition for Child
Development Education find that in our public schools there is very little
education about child development or parenting being taught to our youngsters.
While in school our
This coming month is Prepare Tomorrow's Parent's Month - from Mother's day to
Father's day. We ask residents to write then and again in December to
Commissioner of Education Mark McQuillan, Gov. Jodi Rell and their legislators
and ask them to take steps to make sure all Connecticut's students get
education in child development, child safety, and parenting skills. Not only
can this help prevent child abuse and neglect, but it can improve the life of
the next generation of children and the quality of our society.
The Commissioner's address is
To the Editor:
Governor Rell is to be commended for trying to make preschool available to more
children to give them a better chance of succeeding in school and in life.
However, even if we have universal preschool in this state, we will still not
be addressing the most crucial period in the development of the child's brain
and his emotional and social development, the period from birth to three. The
way a parent or caregiver acts towards a child during this period and responds
to his needs determines his ability to love and trust, his emotional stability,
and his readiness for school. Parents need to know what a child's emotional,
social, and intellectual needs are and how to respond to them appropriately at
various stages of his development from birth to three, or else, according to
research, the result can be a child who lacks empathy, is out of control,
has psychological problems, or becomes a delinquent or even a criminal.
Most children are not in preschool during these first three years, and they
spend the majority of their time with their parents. But many parents don't
know the social, emotional, psychological and intellectual needs of children
from birth to three, how to best address them because no one has ever taught
them about this. If we want to combat the delinquency, violence, drug
abuse, and school behavior problems that plague our society today, we need to
teach all parents these things.
Fox six years bills have been submitted by the Connecticut Coalition for Child
Development Education calling for education in child development and parenting
skills as part of the curriculum, but they have died in committee. The
Connecticut Association of Boards of Education passed a resolution calling for
this education. Acting Commissioner George Coleman and former Education
commissioner Betty Sternberg favored providing child development education to
as many students as possible. In 1997 the State Department of Education in a
comprehensive plan for implementing the Early Childhood Agenda in
I ask the governor, the Commissioner of Education, the Education Committee and
the legislature to take action as soon as possible to provide education in
child development to all our students to prepare them for the most important
job they will have in their lives --the job of raising their children.
To the Editor:
Parenting is the most important
job most of us will ever have because it determines the character of the next
generation and the character of our society. It is time we gave our young
people the information and skills that will help them become capable parents
and help them raise responsible, kind, successful children. This can be
done by making sure that all our students receive education in child safety,
parenting skills and child development sometime before they graduate from high
school.
The Connecticut Coalition
for Child Development Education and the national organization, Prepare
Tomorrow's Parents, have designated the month between Mother's Day and
Father's Day as Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month, and are urging residents in
the state to write to the governor, the state commissioner of education, and
local superintendents of schools advocating for preparing the next generation
of parents through parenting education in schools for children and teens.
Parenting education works
to prevent child abuse and neglect, violence, and teen pregnancy; and to
decrease behavioral, emotional and substance abuse problems in the next
generation of children.
Many of our students
(especially boys) who graduate from high school today don't know that shaking a
baby can cause brain damage and even death, how to manage a difficult toddler
or what emotional abuse or neglect are. When they become young parents,
they may feel incompetent, helpless, and angry. Their lack of knowledge
and frustration can lead some to physically or emotionally abuse or neglect
their own children.
There is a wealth of
knowledge available about child development, the psychological needs of
children and how to meet them, good child management techniques, and the
responsibilities of parenting. But this information doesn't get to most
parents. National surveys revealed that only 5 to 30 percent of parents
take any kind of parenting class. This is why this information must be
provided as part of the curriculum in public schools where it can reach all students
before they become parents. Offering an elective high school child
development course is not enough. A recent survey by
To the Editor:
Studies have shown that
education in parenting skills and child development can help prevent child
abuse, and delinquency, violence, psychological problems, and even substance abuse
in children and teens. However, parenting information must be given to
people when they are future parents and still in school, or most of them will
never get it. Surveys have showed that only from 5 to 30 percent of
parents ever take a parenting class, and less than half read anything about
parenting. This course cannot be just an elective or most students won't
take it. A state survey found only 8 percent of students took the
elective child development/parenting course.
What we teach our children
determines the future of our society. There is a wealth of information
available about child development, the psychological needs of children and how
to meet them, good child management techniques, and the responsibilities of
parenting. Certainly we owe it to our young people to give them this
information, which is just as important as math, science, or English.
The Connecticut Coalition
for Child Development Education and Prepare Tomorrow's Parents have designated
the weeks between Mother's Day and Father's Day Prepare Tomorrow's Parents
Month. They urge
Governor Rell's address
is
To the Editor:
A
Taking care of a baby can
be extremely stressful. When a fretful baby keeps crying and a parent doesn't
know what to do, he or she may do the worst possible thing and in frustration
shake the infant. Shaking a baby can cause brain damage and even death.
But a lot of parents don't know this. And incidents like this are not unusual.
Every month or two we read about them.
To save infants lives we
need to teach all our young people what to expect when they become parents and
how to manage children from birth through the preschool years. They also
need to learn the importance of responding to a baby's cries promptly and
recognizing and responding to its needs adequately. Research has shown
this early nurturing care is essential for a baby to learn to love, trust, and
develop empathy for others in later years. Parents also need to know good ways
of guiding preschool children's behavior, ways of setting limits without
physical punishment, how to keep children safe, and good ways of teaching the
social and emotional skills they will need to succeed in life-things like
respect, responsibility, self-control, kindness, motivation. There are
effective ways of teaching these things. The only way to reach all
parents is to teach this material to potential parents--young people who are
still in school.
The Connecticut Coalition
for Child Development Education and Prepare Tomorrow's Parents, a national
organization, have designated the month between Mother's Day and Father's Day
Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month. They are asking everyone to write or
email State Commissioner of Education Dr. Mark McQuillan, 165 Capitol Ave.,
Hartford, CT 06106 (email: mark.mcquillan@ct.gov); and to Gov. Jodi Rell,
To the Editor:
Parenting is the most
important job most of us will have because it determines the character of the
next generation and the character of our society. It is time we gave our
young people the information that will help them become capable,
knowledgeable parents and help them raise responsible, cooperative, successful
children. This can be done by making sure that all our students receive
education in child safety, parenting skills and child development some time
before they graduate from high school.
The Connecticut Coalition
for Child Development Education and Prepare Tomorrow's Parents, a national
organization have designated the month between Mother's Day and Father's
Day Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month and are urging residents to the state to
write to the governor, the state commissioner of education, and local
superintendents of schools advocating this.
Studies have shown that parenting
education helps prevent child abuse and neglect, violence, teen pregnancy, and
decrease behavioral, emotional and substance abuse problems in the next
generation of children. Many of our students (especially boys) who
graduate from high school today don't know that shaking a baby can cause brain
damage and even death, have no idea what to do when a baby cries, or how to
manage a difficult toddler or what emotional abuse or neglect is. When
they become young parents, often they feel incompetent, helpless, and angry.
Their lack of knowledge and frustration can lead some to physically or
emotionally abuse or neglect their child.
There is a wealth of
knowledge available about child development, the psychological needs of
children and how to meet them, good child management techniques, and the
responsibilities of parenting. But this information doesn't get to most
parents. National surveys revealed that only 5 to 30 percent of parents
take any kind of parenting class. This is why this information must be
provided as part of the curriculum in public schools where it can reach all
students before they become parents. Offering an elective high
school child development course is not enough. A recent survey by
The Connecticut Coalition for Child Development
Education, formerly the
Nine years of coalition experience with the legislature and Commissioners of
Education indicate the need for a groundswell of public support to bring about
action. For more information and to get involved, contact Joan Barbuto,
Coordinator of the Coalition, at joanbstone@aol.com or 203/269-1946.
Return
to the Connecticut Prepare Tomorrow’s Parents Month Index Page
Return to
Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month Index Page
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