It has been said that a parent’s most important job is raising their children. As family life educators, we believe firmly in the crucial nature of parents’ role as teachers, developers, and influencers. According to ncfr.org, Parent Education and Guidance is “an understanding of how parents teach, guide and influence children and adolescents as well as the changing nature, dynamics and needs of the parent/child relationship across the lifespan.” In my opinion, this is one of the most crucial content areas for FLEs to understand thoroughly because it has a profound influence on each of the other content areas in one way or another.
Parents are the leaders of families. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model emphasizes the influence of an individual’s microsystem, which would include their nuclear family unit. The parent-child relationship is the most crucial because according to attachment theory, the way a child relates to his or her parents largely determines the way they will relate to others throughout the rest of their lifespan. As Family Life Educators, we must have an understanding of how to influence parents to positively influence their children.
Parents are the leaders of families. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model emphasizes the influence of an individual’s microsystem, which would include their nuclear family unit. The parent-child relationship is the most crucial because according to attachment theory, the way a child relates to his or her parents largely determines the way they will relate to others throughout the rest of their lifespan. As Family Life Educators, we must have an understanding of how to influence parents to positively influence their children.
Academic Preparation
- Early Childhood
- Working with Parents
Work/Volunteer Experience
- Undergraduate Research Assistant
Reflection
It took my own personal experience in a dysfunctional family dynamic for me to realize how crucial parent-child relationships are. As a child of divorce, I experienced the tension that often comes in post-divorce relationships, both in parent-parent relationships and parent-child relationships. This tension was not without consequence for me, even though I caused none of it. My parents both grew up in dysfunctional homes and did not have a good grasp on how to handle conflict in a way that minimized its effects on my sister and I. They also were not taught about healthy parent-child communication following divorce, so I often found myself playing the middle man in situations where the appropriate thing would have been for them to confront one another and communicate directly rather than talking about each other to their adolescent child.
I cannot place the full blame on my parents for this lack of healthy communication because they were never really taught about the ins-and-outs of parent-child communication and relationships. They had both been through church classes on things like marriage and the family, but I don’t think they fully understood the impact that poor communication would have on their children. Knowing what I know now, I understand that what my parents needed was information and education on how the parent-child relationships would shift following divorce. My parents’ divorce was what drove me to pursue Family Studies in the first place because I wanted other children enduring divorce to have resources and I wanted to be able to help minimize the turmoil they inevitably experience as much as possible.
My continuing education has also informed my knowledge of parent education to an extensive degree. The field of Family Studies and Human Services is essentially founded on the belief that parents shape children into adults and individuals, and then those individuals go out and have an impact on their world. As a family life educator, it is important that I have a firm grasp on concepts I have learned about in my undergraduate career such as attachment theory, social learning theory, and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model. These lenses allow FLEs to understand the critical nature of the parent-child relationship and the ways in which they influence their children. Many parents are unaware of how significant the imprint is that they leave on their children, whether positive or negative. This is why so many parent-child relationships are dysfunctional or nonexistent; parents are simply not self-aware or not aware of the extent of their child’s needs. This is why family life educators are so important. For example, many new parents may not understand how crucial attachment bonds are in the early days and weeks of newborn life. They may shift their attention to transitioning back home more quickly than necessary. This may cause issues down the road because their child did not have sufficient time to form those critical bonds with his or her caregiver.
Another example of this is breastfeeding. This is a largely misunderstood topic, one we discussed in my Working with Parents course. Many new mothers find themselves discouraged because their infant is having trouble latching or does not seem to want to be fed at all. This is why lactation nurses are such an important type of family life educator. Research shows that breastfeeding has many benefits. However, assuming that all new mothers are aware of this research and how to properly breastfeed would be ignorant.
As human service professionals, we need to be aware that many others are not as educated as we are privileged to be on the intricacies of parenting and building a family. Becoming a parent is said to be the biggest and most challenging transition over the course of the human lifespan. As family life educators, we have a responsibility to ensure that parents are informed about the ways they can improve their relationships with their children and the quality of their children’s lives.
I cannot place the full blame on my parents for this lack of healthy communication because they were never really taught about the ins-and-outs of parent-child communication and relationships. They had both been through church classes on things like marriage and the family, but I don’t think they fully understood the impact that poor communication would have on their children. Knowing what I know now, I understand that what my parents needed was information and education on how the parent-child relationships would shift following divorce. My parents’ divorce was what drove me to pursue Family Studies in the first place because I wanted other children enduring divorce to have resources and I wanted to be able to help minimize the turmoil they inevitably experience as much as possible.
My continuing education has also informed my knowledge of parent education to an extensive degree. The field of Family Studies and Human Services is essentially founded on the belief that parents shape children into adults and individuals, and then those individuals go out and have an impact on their world. As a family life educator, it is important that I have a firm grasp on concepts I have learned about in my undergraduate career such as attachment theory, social learning theory, and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model. These lenses allow FLEs to understand the critical nature of the parent-child relationship and the ways in which they influence their children. Many parents are unaware of how significant the imprint is that they leave on their children, whether positive or negative. This is why so many parent-child relationships are dysfunctional or nonexistent; parents are simply not self-aware or not aware of the extent of their child’s needs. This is why family life educators are so important. For example, many new parents may not understand how crucial attachment bonds are in the early days and weeks of newborn life. They may shift their attention to transitioning back home more quickly than necessary. This may cause issues down the road because their child did not have sufficient time to form those critical bonds with his or her caregiver.
Another example of this is breastfeeding. This is a largely misunderstood topic, one we discussed in my Working with Parents course. Many new mothers find themselves discouraged because their infant is having trouble latching or does not seem to want to be fed at all. This is why lactation nurses are such an important type of family life educator. Research shows that breastfeeding has many benefits. However, assuming that all new mothers are aware of this research and how to properly breastfeed would be ignorant.
As human service professionals, we need to be aware that many others are not as educated as we are privileged to be on the intricacies of parenting and building a family. Becoming a parent is said to be the biggest and most challenging transition over the course of the human lifespan. As family life educators, we have a responsibility to ensure that parents are informed about the ways they can improve their relationships with their children and the quality of their children’s lives.