We are making the case for society to invest in parent education for the following reasons:
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- When it comes to Social Determinants of Health AND Adverse Childhood Experiences, we PARENTS most directly impact the conditions our children experience: we determine the level of cleanliness, safety, nutrition, nurturance and EXPOSURE to Society. We teach our children through our words and actions, how we spend our time and money, how we communicate and interact with them, and other family and everyone else. We teach our children how to view and treat – and what to believe – about themselves. WE parents determine the conditions of our neighborhoods simply by how we raise our children. Parents are powerful; we just don’t know that
- There are basic parenting information and tools that help ANY parent create a loving, respectful, stable home environment that supports our expectations for our children’s academic and life success – regardless of the neighborhood in which we live. We parents don’t know that, either. We believe we’re just naturally supposed to know how to parent.
- This society does not have a common process by which it equip its parents with the information and tools I’m talking about, and if it doesn’t have a process for its majority people…
- That common process certainly doesn’t exist for Black people, especially given that the negative impact of our collective experience is only RECENTLY beginning to be acknowledged by The US and larger society. GOING FURTHER,
- Because there is no common process for either group, Parenting Education is regarded as an option by parents, not a necessity. Most parenting educators will tell you the parents who OPT to take parenting workshops are already generally self-aware and well-equipped, and the ones who need it the most don’t make it a priority to attend, and if they do BEGIN sessions, unless they’re court-ordered, less than 10% of the beginning attendees complete it.