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parenting is in fashion, with little discipline because of the riots last year. But as the government launches free courses, there is no evidence to support the idea that you can teach people how to be parents?

Because the idea of ??teaching people how to be good parents is relatively new in this country, much of the materials currently used is imported from the United States, which can be derived from its crazy participants.

The parent education program conducted by Save the Children in high poverty areas in the UK is the FAST (Families and Schools Together) plan, which was designed in the United States and is , according to Peter Bryson, who runs the program, "many yahooing and clapping." "There is a cultural resistance of the first week, you know it's a little embarrassing, but he started playing anyway the end of class, parents yahooing to each other when in the supermarket." Said it.

This is a show that can begin to attend more frequently over the next two years. The Save the Children is a program of a series of programs that the government announced this week that will be deployed in the three regions of the country as part of a relative two-year trial class free for anyone with a child under five who want them.

At first glance, it is difficult to find something they do not like the concept of parenting classes. Since most parents sit for hours in prenatal classes, it seems crazy to stop classes at birth, and there is nothing to help the more challenging task of achieving the child.

unless the happy prospects of supervised play sessions and morning coffee, simmer politics of parenting, the debate, which is surprisingly loaded.

parenting classes announcement came the day after titles in the Daily Mail and also announced that "Bad parenting is to blame for the riots," quoting selectively from research independent perturbation parents to report, other triggers riot: missed opportunities, failures of the police and the justice system, the growing materialism. "We listened to many communities who felt the rowdy behavior could eventually be attributed to poor education. We must consider what can be done to ensure that all children receive appropriate support, control and direction of parents and guardians, "the report said.

emphasis by government on parenting as the cause and possible solution to many problems of society before the riots. A number of commissioners of government reports have highlighted the need for better parenting, and have often led to an implied uncomfortable parents blame for the failures of children, sometimes, a unique fusion of being poor being a bad parent.

Over the last two years the government has commissioned and approved two research articles, written by two Labour MPs on the issue of parenting and early intervention. Frank Field has called all the children who are parenting classes at school, saying: "Being a parent also go into the army in Afghanistan, is the most important thing that we ask anyone to do so and take people acquire knowledge by osmosis - and don'ts ", Graham Allen, who last year called for the establishment of a national parent, noting that" babies do not come with a manual, "a explicit link between poverty and poor parenting skills, and added: "Parents have a strong desire to do the best for their children, but many, especially in low-income groups, are uninformed or unmotivated on way to do this. "

For a time, Iain Duncan Smith liked to take pictures of brain sections of unwanted children, rather wrinkled like nuts, in a spectacular (although controversial) attempts to show the effect Parenting negligence on brain development. Classes for new parents will be available for everyone, the government said - clearly eliminates any debate about whether the government's commitment to parenting as a central element in its family policy implicitly blaming poor parents by circumstance

Minister for Children Sarah Teather, said:. "We want parents to be able to seek help and advice in the early years of their children and to make it a normal part of family life" At present, however, is being tested in the areas the "medium to high deprivation. "

The announcement left some key figures in the field caution.

Katherine Rake, director of the Institute for the family and parenthood, said he did not think there was clear evidence that good parenting was in decline and demand if the debate on raising children was a distraction from other issues that have a profound impact on the lives of children - unemployment and finances of the extended family, for example. "You can teach someone to drive well, but if they are sent on an icy road, they will find very, very difficult. The road is very, very cold right now," she said.

also asked how it could be delivered for £ 100, that the bonds are worth, and how the classes of 0-five years that help parents struggling with difficult adolescents.

Naomi Eisenstadt, a founder of Sure Start, and now a scholar at Oxford, is essential to drift towards the promotion of good education as a key issue in the government's strategy on poverty children. Despite his own career with a commitment to the defense of parenting classes as a key component of Sure Start, she felt she was too radical a change in this direction, arguing that in the context of price increases, benefits frozen and rising unemployment, parenting classes do not feel as important as a priority to help people find work. "I also think it is an insult to the poor to suggest that poor parents are bad parents," she said.

But parenting can be taught, or is a bit like trying to teach someone to be a good person? I have vague memories of the workout three hours, the night I sat through 18 months of parental, I promised to make quieter, parents happy, but that turned out to be a pitch sale by a set of 10 CD. I wave can remember one thing: if you want a child to do something, you must be near them and wait patiently to do, instead of screaming like a madman distance, which is probably good advice if you are to calm enough to remember to take it.

What is interesting about the government's plans to test different approaches offered by different suppliers. It is clear that there is no set formula for creating good parents, but

Octavius ??Black, founder of Father Gym, one of the few to grow comfortable in the pilot course, the government is confident that the skills can be taught. Although he insists that there is strong evidence, he believes that parenting classes could eventually help prevent future outbreaks of antisocial behavior type that we saw last summer. Children who have benefited from good parenting "are more likely to succeed in school, obtain employment, reducing the risk of criminal behavior, and suggests that improving parents lead to less social unrest" he said. (Black, a contemporary university school of Prime Minister said he played no role in shaping government policy, but he is "delighted" parenting has been given high profile.)

The hardest part of the program to get people to sign up, people are resistant because "the skills of parenting to someone difficile is one of the greatest challenges their identity, "Black said. Providers should avoid any suggestion that the courses were created to help parents bad, but they need to convince people that try to "build on its good points"

Bryson, Save the Children, says the program is slower on practical advice for parents about how to improve relationships within the family and the family, school and the community generally. He is wary of talking about poverty, because the charity knows no clear course between poverty and prevents people register, but the literature is explicit: "Parents can help children. overcome the effects of deprivation " aa

Angela Edwards, 39, of Manchester, said his time in the short course taught her the importance of spending time with her daughter without letting the distractions interfere. Since most messages are simple and obvious point, but somehow it did take on board during the lesson and apply it to everyday life.

"I did not know how much you do not waste your time with the children. It would be in the house cleaning, doing laundry and she would play or watch a movie. I thought I would spend the time with her, but I was not, "she said.