The goal of The Connecticut Coalition for Child Development Education is to get education in child development, child safety and parenting skills to all students sometime before they graduate from high school.
Why do We Need Education in Child Development, Child Safety
and Parenting Skills for All Our Students?
Few parents take parenting courses once they become parents. About 80 percent of people become parents, yet schools are not providing most students with information to help them with this most important job. The years from birth to five are the crucial years for a child’s development, particularly his brain development, according to many studies. The way he is raised in these years determines which brain pathways will be developed and which will not, and how well he will succeed in school and in life.
Studies have found holding a baby and responsive care by a parent are essential for the baby to bond to the parent. Without this bonding psychiatrists have found, children are likely to become delinquents, have mental problems or even kill.
Knowledge of child development, children’s needs and effective parenting lays the groundwork for better intellectual and mental health in future generations.
Research has shown that education in child development and parenting skills can help prevent child abuse and neglect, behavioral problems in school, violence by children and young people, teen pregnancy, and social, emotional and substance abuse problems in children and youth.
To Prevent “Shaken Baby Syndrome”-Parents or caretakers in frustration sometimes shake a baby who won’t stop crying, which can cause brain damage or death. Most students graduating from high school (boys especially) don’t know this.
To Address teen-age pregnancy-The national teen pregnancy rate is rising for the first time in 15 years. Teen-age girls have no idea of the difficulty of raising a baby, the needs and demands of the child from birth to five, and at their young age they are usually incapable of providing the nurturing and care that a baby requires.