Why Families Need Help

According to Thrive By Five, an early education consortium, 50% of children in Washington state begin kindergarten unready to learn. There´s no reason to think that kids in other states do better. Other studies confirm that children who start school behind almost never catch up.

The HighScope/Perry Preschool Project, a research effort that´s been tracking a group of preschool "graduates" for the past 30 years, has demonstrated that high quality preschool education makes a huge difference in children´s success as adults, including their high school graduate rates, marriage and divorce rates, full-time employment rates and ability to stay out of trouble with the law. Why do kids need a top quality preschool to get this kind of support? Why don´t kids get what they need to succeed at home?

Once upon a time, they did. At one time, the knowledge required to be a successful adult was limited and children could learn all they needed to know from their parents and from only a few years of schooling. It took over 4000 years to move from the cart to the automobile. It took less than 200 years to move from the very first automobile to the first manned space ship. An Ancient Greek would have had little trouble adjusting to life in 17th Century Europe. A 17th Century European would be overwhelmed by life in the 21st Century.

Parents today are overwhelmed, not only by the demands made on their role as parents but on all the roles they play and by all the knowledge they need just to get by. The world has changed tremendously, even in recent memory. Parents are more distracted than they used to be. They are pressured by the need to be perfect parents and raise perfect children.

It comes as no surprise that many parents crack. In 2008, a loophole in a new Nebraska law permitted parents in that state to abandon children of all ages without penalty at safe haven sites like hospitals. The law was similar to laws in other states intended to protect newborns but the Nebraska statute did not limit the age of the abandoned child. State officials were astonished by the number of preteen and teen children who were dropped off at safe havens by parents who had had enough. The question is not "what´s wrong with all these kids that their parents want to be rid of them?" The question is "what´s wrong with our society that parents cannot cope with raising their own children?"

There´s a lot of information on being a parent. But much of what is presented focuses on shortcomings. The popular press and many others have set parents up with impossible standards, unworkable techniques, and useless finger pointing. It´s safe to say that many of those parents in Nebraska believed that there is something basically wrong with their kids or with themselves and that it isn´t fixable. We need to change all that. We can change all that. That´s why I´m here.

I Can Help You and Families You Care About

What parents need is reassurance, information and inspiration. They need the support of their workplace and community. Teachers and social service professionals need inspiration to collaborate with families and guide them. And employers, business leaders, and policy makers need understanding of the realities of family life and of their role in providing support for change.

There is nothing more important than this work. Nothing is more important than the success of a parent. On this our very future depends. That is why I am dedicated to helping you.