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A report released in Britain recently suggests that the headline grabbing woes of a plummeting economy could be the least of our worries. What we really need to concentrate on, suggests the “Good Child Report”, is getting this parenting thing right. And according to the report, which was commissioned by the Children’s society, the British seem to be getting it oh-so-wrong.
Statistically Ireland doesn’t fare quite so badly on the parenting front, but looking at some of the questions the report raises I can’t help thinking that we can’t afford to be smug. Have you ever argued with your partner in front of your children? Do you ever take the easy approach and let them sit in front of the television instead of going for a family walk? Have you ever shouted at them for no reason other than the cumulative frustrations of parenthood? Do you sometimes give in when you really should stand firm?
Any parent would answer yes to most, if not all of those things. That does not make them a bad parent, of course, but all of those traits, if they become a dominant factor in the parent-child relationship, can lead down the slippery slope to parenting oblivion.