Parent Power!
Minister for Children and Families Aileen Campbell paid a visit to Inverclyde to meet with 2 PNS grops from Inverclyde and Blantyre. The visit was a huge hit with the parents and the Minister was very impressed with the parents and the work that PNS are doing in Inverclyde.
Children Want Love - Not Money
Kids don't actually need the latest expensive gear to be happy - parents just think they do.
Children's charity Unicef found that our children are caught in a "materialistic trap", where mums and dads buy branded goods in a bid to keep them happy.
But they most want the simple things in life, such as spending time with their families, being outdoors and taking part in sport or creative activities.
Unicef interviewed 250 families from a range of backgrounds in Britain, Spain and Sweden and found peer pressure was much more powerful in the UK.
A single mum from a village near Glasgow told how her kids pestered her for a Nintendo Wii console, only for it to lie in the house "like an ornament".
She added: "All their wee pals had it so I bought it and then they don't look at it. It sits there.
"It's all 'they need it, they need it, they need it'. It's like a novelty for a while and then they're not interested."
The report found youngsters who were brainwashed by adverts and showered with trendy gadgets and clothes felt "trapped" in a materialistic culture.
Unicef also found that parents, particularly those on low incomes, felt under "tremendous pressure" to buy the newest trendy goods.
The situation is so bad, they went on, that the UK should follow Sweden's example and ban all ads to under-12s.
They also want to encourage parents to work fewer hours and spend more time with their children and warned councils against closing children's playgrounds or facilities to save cash.
Unicef said the research provides an insight into the issues beneath last month's English riots, which saw kids as young as 11 looting shops.
In contrast, family time in Spain and Sweden is a priority and there is less pressure to buy goods, the study found.
Grappling Unicef UK executive director David Bull said: "Right now, politicians are grappling with the aftermath of the riots and what they say about our society, culture and families.
"It is vital that those in power listen to what children and their families are saying about life in the UK.
"The Government need to show strong leadership by taking decisive action to help families fight back against the materialism and inequality that is so pervasive in the UK.
"They need to make sure parents earn enough to spend fewer hours in work, protect play facilities and reform advertising to children."
Source: Daily Record 15 Sept 2011 http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2011/09/15/kids-don-t-want-your-cash-just-your-love-86908-23421629/
Intensive Intervention Helps Families Reduce Poor Parenting and Antisocial Behaviour
Family intervention projects have helped to reduce the proportion of families involved in
crime and antisocial behaviour by 50 per cent, government statistics have revealed.
The statistics analyse the results of the 3,675 families that have left intervention
projects since January 2006. The data is based on figures recorded by staff in a system
developed by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen).
On average, there was a 47 per cent reduction in the proportion of families with chaotic
home lives that included poor parenting, relationship breakdowns, domestic violence or child
protection concerns.
The projects resulted in a 34 per cent reduction in the number of families with health
risks, including mental or physical health and substance abuse problems. Families
experiencing problems with education also saw some positive outcomes with a 53 per cent
reduction in the number of families with problems with truancy or bad behaviour at school
and a 14 per cent reduction in the number of familes with no adult in education, employment
or training.
Commenting on the statistics, children’s minister Tim Loughton: "The statistics show an
overwhelmingly positive picture of how intensive family intervention can successfully turn
around the lives of families that have many complex problems, often present for generations
within the same family.
"More than 80 per cent of local authorities have told the department that they have kept a
family intervention service, showing that they still see this work as a priority.
Intervening early and services working more efficiently with vulnerable families is central
to the government’s commitment to unlock social mobility and tackle child poverty. That’s
why we are supporting local areas to expand family intervention services with the roll out
of community budgets, which help local areas to pool funding into one central pot."
The number of families working with an intervention projects in 2010/11 was 5,461, a 55 per
cent increase on the 2009/10 figure of 3,518.
Anne Longfield, chief executive of charity 4Children, said: "These latest statistics provide
further evidence that intensive family support can both break the cycle of disadvantage for
many of our young people and result in huge economic savings for the country."
Meanwhile, research into 27 local authorities involved in the Family and Young Carer
Pathfinder programme found that for every £1 invested nearly £2 was saved.
Source: J Mahadevan 14 September 2011 Children & Young People Now
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Joint_working/article/1091979/Intensive-intervention-helps-families-
reduce-poor-parenting-antisocial-behaviour/
Parenting Style Affects Drinking
Parenting style is one of the strongest influences on how a child drinks as a young adult, a study suggests.
Independent think tank Demos studied data based on about 15,000 children born in the UK in the last 40 years.
It found that a "tough love" style of parenting was the best way to ensure children drank more responsibly when they were aged between 16 and 34.
The research also suggests that being too authoritarian with children could be as ineffectual as being too casual.
Warm and affectionate
Researchers found that the best approach was for parents to be warm and affectionate until the age of 10 and then combine this with more discipline. Then at ages 15 to 16 there should be more supervision.
It found high levels of parental attachment when children were aged under five significantly reduced the chances of them drinking excessively later in life.
It studied data gained from questioning of parents on two broad areas - warmth and discipline.
When their children were young, parents were asked about how much time they spent with them and whether they ate meals together, among other questions.
Regarding discipline, they were asked whether they knew where their teenage children were in the evenings, how often household rules were broken, and other questions.
When the children reached adulthood, they were asked about alcohol consumption.
Report author Jamie Bartlett said that parenting which combined high levels of both warmth and discipline "results in the child overall in their lives achieving lots of positive things - well-being, responsibility, efficacy, and responsible alcohol consumption is one of them.
"This isn't just about alcohol, but it's one of those things that's affected by parenting styles."
Government action urged
Demos's study found bad parenting at 16 made children more than eight times more likely to drink excessively at that age and over twice as likely to binge drink when they were 34.
Its report says parents should discuss alcohol with their children and set firm boundaries on drinking, avoid being drunk around them and actively ensure they develop sensible expectations of consumption.
It says ensuring teenagers do not have easy access to alcohol at home and monitoring drinking in the home environment is another important element of a tough love approach.
The think tank recommends that parents take a lead role in dealing with "an entrenched binge drinking culture" in Britain with government support.
The government should enforce under-age drinking laws - in partnership with local authorities and retailers - so that alcohol boundaries are clear, it says.
Investment should also be made in alcohol-related school programmes involving parents, the report says.
Activities for at-risk children are also important during school holidays when there can be more opportunities to engage in binge drinking, Demos says.
Mr Bartlett said the impact of parenting on children's future drinking "cannot be ignored".
"This is good for parents: those difficult moments of enforcing tough rules really do make a difference, even if it doesn't always feel like that at the time."
Demos's parenting types
Authoritarian: Set absolute standards, value obedience and structure over freedom and exploration
Tough love: Expect children to conform to rules that can be negotiated. Encourage autonomy in decision making
Laissez-faire: Emotionally engaged but tend to abrogate responsibility for setting rules. Few standards imposed
Disengaged: Uninvolved emotionally with their children. Do not structure activities or set boundaries
“Those difficult moments of enforcing tough rules really do make a difference, even if it doesn't always feel like that at the time" Jamie Bartlett - Demos report author
Source: BBC news 28 August 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14696975
