Send mums and dads 'good parenting' texts, says advisor

www.grub4life.org.uk today reports that new mothers and fathers should be sent text messages from the Department for Education telling them how to be good parents, a Government advisor has said. 17-01-2012

Jean Gross, the outgoing 'communication champion' for children, said parents should be advised by text to switch the television off, if they had it on all day, and reminded to speak to their babies.
 
She raised the idea in her last report on how to improve the speaking, reading and writing skills of children.
 
Gross said such radical ideas were needed to combat a problem that seemed to be growing, with the numbers of school-age children identified with such difficulties having grown by 58 per cent in the last five years.
 
She said the messages must be informative and fun, for anything that lectured parents "would just put them off".
 
However, she thought direct interventions were sometimes necessary, even if they extended the state's reach into the private sphere.
 
"Governments of all persuasions are afraid of being seen to interfere in family life and being seen as the nanny state," she noted.
 
Such a text service must be voluntary, she emphasised, and could also include advice on other aspects of parenthood such as health, sleep, food and toilet training.
 
With thanks to www.telegraph.co.uk
 
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9016393/Send-mums-and-dads-good-parenting-texts-says-advisor.html