So unless you have been hiding under a rock for the last few
days, you will have heard all about Mr. Cameron & his plans to introduce
parenting class vouchers, through the CAN Parent scheme.
Now I don’t know exactly where to start with this as there
so many ideas running through my head!
I have to be honest though, the first thought that ran
through my head was what a waste of money! It is estimated that the pilot
scheme could cost £5 million when it launches in 3 different areas of the
country – Middlesborough, Camden and north London. I think the reason for my
initial reaction was what with the constant cuts to benefits and impending
closures of Sure Start centre's, where is this money coming from? Surely,
maintaining benefits and keeping the Sure Start centre's open would be a better
use of resources? It just seems such a false economy to me, to stop one method
of helping families to only start up a new scheme at more cost to the tax
payer? I know the Sure Centre’s have been a bit hit & miss (my experience
has only been positive & I found them a great resource when my boys were
younger) but why have these amazing centre's with all the equipment, space and
facilities to run these classes only to shut them at get outside organisations
to run them? I just can’t quite get my head around it!
One of the outside organisations that will be running
classes is the NCT. Now don’t get me wrong the NCT are an amazing resource
& I have made many great friends through my contact with them, but let’s be
realistic, the type of parents that need the help, in my humble opinion are not
going to feel comfortable accessing classes through what is a predominately
middle class establishment. I don’t think I am being snobby or controversial; I
am just concerned that the families that need the help are well aware of the
normal costs involved to join the NCT and even with the vouchers may feel
intimidated about the other parents they may meet & that will just put them
off.
This then takes me perfectly on to my next point & the
more I am writing this the more I am tending to agree with Liz Fraser (you can
read her full thoughts on the Daily Mail link below) who believes that this
scheme is just a ‘sticking plaster’ for bigger societal problems. The families
who really need this help are those that need support, jobs and confidence and
classes which tell them what they are doing wrong and how to improve I don’t
think will necessarily help. Going into a group setting to discuss what could
be quite complex issues is not going to work for the majority, especially as
the classes are voluntary. We all know it takes a brave step to acknowledge
something is wrong and take the steps to fix it.
There are so many issues in our society today, the whole
idea that helping parents with a few little classes will stop things like the
riots happening, is again, in my humble opinion – bonkers! It is just throwing
money at a problem, and we all know that never works. We need to step back and
really look at what is going on within society and asking parents to pop into
their local Boots and pick up some shiny vouchers I really do not think is not
the solution!
The money going on this scheme which could run into hundreds
of millions if Mr. Cameron gets his way and the scheme is rolled out nationwide
I think could be much better spent, on things like flexible childcare to enable
people to work & get back their self-respect and confidence, giving parents
more help towards ever increasing childcare costs, youth programmes to help
young people find work & give them the skills they so desperately need, the
list goes on! All the stop & start and changing of policy is contributing
to society’s issues as the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing &
just as one project is starting to make a difference it is stopped & a new
one is created & all the hard work is undone.
I am not saying that anything positive won’t come from this
scheme as there are always success stories, but I am yet to be convinced after
reading many articles and watching news reports that this is the way forward!
So, what is your take on the whole thing? Would love to hear
what you think!
The links below are to other articles/video clips that I
have looked at before writing this blog post:
This is yet another false representation of support. It supports "them" by getting us to conform to their idea of parenting. Targeted at the lower classes. What about all the thing's "they" are doing and have done wrong. Who's giving them lessons. There is no way to ensure any long term benefits. As the only way to truly estimate how much good the classes have done would be to follow the parent's (student's) child throughout their life and determine whether that child had grown into a productive well rounded adult. This is just another way of attempting to get future generations to tow the line and unfortunately many of those it targets will not see it for what it is. "They" have realized it all begins at the root. What a waste of resources it indeed would be. It's projects like this that caused the "recession" in the first place. Tax the people - squander the money - blame the people - save the people - Raise the taxes, and the cycle begins again. Parenting is about instinct. It takes a family to raise a child not a system.
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