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brittone2
05-05-2008, 04:29 PM
Reuters news story:
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0230210620080504

DH and I often have often discussed how we find it interesting that we learned very little practical life information in high school. I had advanced math courses that got into compound interest, but most of my friends still don't fully get it (and they are smart people!). Ditto credit card use, etc. We've also had conversations about how a lot of abuse or poor parenting skills might be prevented if more people understood normal child development. It could easily be wrapped into a psychology class, etc. and certainly be educational *and* practical. Since most people eventually go on to have children, it would be more helpful for the masses than some other topics, IMO. I saw this today and thought it might be interesting to share.

ThreeofUs
05-05-2008, 04:59 PM
DH and I have been talking about this as we think about DC#2.... We both have many years of education, but both had absolutely ZERO education on child-rearing. As the youngest children in our generations (both our moms were 39ish when they had us), we never even *saw* babies close-up.

Poor DS, he had to teach us everything, and we were really slow learners! :)

But we agree with you: more information about kids, the raising and understanding thereof, would be most useful in our society.

Interestingly, though, our local Bradley childcare educator said they used to offer "understanding child development" classes - but couldn't get attendance. Pre-parents didn't think they needed it; pregnant parents were otherwise concerned; and parents with kids didn't have the time.

SnuggleBuggles
05-05-2008, 05:40 PM
It sure would be great if they offered this sort of info a bit more readily. Personally I could have used more information about the way the real world operates, like saving for a house, buying a car, loans, credit cards, budgeting...all those practical things that some parents might teach their kids at home (but mine did not). My dh also took as many AP classes
as we could in high school, went on to college, graduated but we felt clueless about these things. Speaking to others makes me feel that we are not alone in feeling world prepared (from children to finances and everything else).

Beth

elliput
05-05-2008, 07:18 PM
When I read the article yesterday, I was not surprised at all by the findings. My personal experiences with babies before I became pg with DD was practically nil. I pretty much avoided them - I even dodged changing my niece's diaper until she was 18 months.

The two questions that they quoted in the article (knowing right from wrong and PT readiness) seemed like common sense to me. So maybe I know more than I thought I did. :p

Gena
05-05-2008, 07:53 PM
I went to a Catholic High school where we had to take a religion class every year. Freshman and sophmores had to take scripture and morality classes. Juniors and seniors got to take the classes that provided a lot of practical information for adult life: marriage, parenting, death & dying, etc. (These were considered the "fun" classes at my school and included some really interesting field trips.) The parenting class included "lab days" where infants, toddlers, and preschoolers were brought in for the class to get some hands on experience.

I think I learned as much from these classes as I did from the many AP courses I took.

brittone2
05-05-2008, 08:08 PM
It sure would be great if they offered this sort of info a bit more readily. Personally I could have used more information about the way the real world operates, like saving for a house, buying a car, loans, credit cards, budgeting...all those practical things that some parents might teach their kids at home (but mine did not). My dh also took as many AP classes
as we could in high school, went on to college, graduated but we felt clueless about these things. Speaking to others makes me feel that we are not alone in feeling world prepared (from children to finances and everything else).

Beth

Agreeing wholeheartedly. I find myself infuriated over the current mortgage crisis. I believe in personal responsibility to a point, but how many people really understand mortgage lingo? When most people go on to own a home, why is it usually not a topic covered in school (ditto credit card terms, etc.)?

My father, who worked a very blue collar job and only completed a year of college, was great at explaining this stuff to me in my childhood/teens. I was really fortunate. DH and I never received much of this type of education in school, and neither did most of our friends/peers.

I find it absolutely amazing that these topics are not taught in most schools to this day.

Edited to fix typo

TahliasMom
05-05-2008, 08:14 PM
sad to say dd was the first diaper that i ever changed! i had no exposure to babies and besides all the reading I did, I had no clue what to do with a baby! this is how I learned about life too, thru trial and error. more praticial life skills should be taught in schools. most of the stuff you learn in school you never use...

maestramommy
05-05-2008, 11:13 PM
One of Dh's coworkers' daughter took a class that involved a unit in parenting. the one where you care for a doll for a week. Apparently these babies are quite complex now. They are programmed to a computer so at the end of the week you can be evaluated on how well you responded to the baby's cries. Well the daughter was originally going to do two weeks for extra credit, but the first week she got the baby programmed for colic. She hardly slept, needless to say, and decided that one week was enough:ROTFLMAO:

I think this program should be mandatory in all high schools :loveeyes:

DrSally
05-05-2008, 11:41 PM
Not surprising. I took an optional psychology course in highschool, but the child dvmt aspect was basic Erickson stages, not really "nuts and bolts" child dvmt. Even my psych courses in undergrad were more theoretical and research based than practical. I'd have to say I learned the most from Grad school on how I wanted to parent based on theory and research. But, it's not like everyone should have to go through 11 years of college to get to that point!

I prob learned the most practical stuff from actually babysitting from ages 11-16. It's hard to believe now, but people left their newborns with me at age 11! I must've done ok. I do remember loving to hold them while they slept. Luckily, I never had any really fussy babies, just had to feed and change them. I do remember being surprised the first time a newborn boy peed on me! I did take a "babysitting" class before I started too.

However, wouldn't it be great if the basics of child dvmt stages, and what to expect of different ages were covered somehow. There are plenty of books, but not everyone goes out and reads them. A lot of frustration could prob be avoided if parents knew what to expect at different ages, like babies are not capable of "manipulating" you, or cause and effect doesn't kick in until a certain age, etc.

bubbaray
05-05-2008, 11:54 PM
I knew pretty much zero about children until I had DD#1 when I was 37. College-prep HS, 2 university degrees and a professional designation -- but I had never changed a diaper before she was born. Good thing, or I might have re-thought the whole having kids idea.... j/k kinda

julieakc
05-06-2008, 12:31 AM
That is interesting, but sadly not too surprising to me.

I actually felt really prepared for having a baby:

- My mom was an instructional aide at a preschool for years and I spent a couple summers as a pre-teen hanging out with her there

- Was a Behavioral Sciences major in college - so I took lots of psychology classes some of which were not real world like Sally noted, but some did cover at least basic child development

- My mom gave birth to my on and only brother (different fathers) when I was 20....I was in the room when he was delivered (c-section) and babysat him a lot as I was living in a studio apartment attached to my mom's house until he was about 2.

- Several friends had babies before me

Of course God decided that since I felt fully prepared (DH was shocked that I knew all the answers during the baby prep class we took; I signed us up for his benefit :ROTFLMAO: ), that he'd teach me some humilty by giving me a baby with a rare disorder that required all sorts of things that were not typical. :47:

wencit
05-06-2008, 01:24 AM
I learned more about parenting from these boards than anywhere else, including which books TO read to learn more about parenting, LOL!

When DH was an undergrad at Rutgers University in New Jersey, they offered an Infant & Child Development class, which he decided to take at the time. Should I be worried that DH (who was an honors engineering student and generally got very good grades) ended up FLUNKING the class?! :hysterical: To this day, it is a running joke in our household. Fortunately for him, he is a pretty good father to our son.