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New research reveals parents biggest fears for their children. Sexuality comes out as older children’s top fears, followed by serious accidents and failing academically
Parents’ biggest fears for their children are drug and alcohol abuse (57 per cent), reveals new research for Parentchannel.tv – the new free expert advice video website for parents of 5-19 year olds. Next-up is the fear of their children being involved in a serious accident (54 per cent), their future financial stability (43 per cent), their children’s worries about body image (30 per cent) and the anxiety of under-age pregnancy (29 per cent).
Yet, when it comes to parents’ confidence to talk through issues with their children, the threat of paedophilia (29 per cent), closely followed by their child’s sexuality* (28 per cent), are the two top topics that parents feel the least confident talking to their children about.
But parents recognised that when it comes to discussing sexual issues with their children, sexually transmitted diseases were considered the most important to talk about (48.6 per cent), closely followed by teenage pregnancy (44 per cent).
When it comes to getting parenting advice to tackle these issues, the majority (58 per cent) turn to their parents first – 45 per cent to mums and 13 per cent to dads – followed by their spouse or partner (36 per cent) and their friends (28 per cent). Yet, the pressures to be a good parent come mostly from children themselves, say one in three parents (33 per cent), ahead of fellow parents (25 per cent), their own parents (24 per cent) and schools (23 per cent).
From today, parents have a new source of parental help, advice and support with the launch of a free video website Parentchannel.tv, supported by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Children’s views
failing academically (23 per cent), their future financial stability (22 per cent) and being in trouble with the law (19 per cent).
Interestingly, the research also revealed that, for 12-15 year olds, drug and alcohol use are the issues that children themselves are the most likely to lie to their parents about (43 per cent).
But, with almost as many children (one in three – 35 per cent) likely to lie to their parents about not doing homework, it shows that no matter how big or small an issue may seem, parents have their work cut out when it comes to knowing the balance to strike between those issues that seem severe, and those that seem trivial.
With over half (56 per cent) of children turning to parents first when they have a problem – rather than friends (33 per cent), teachers (4 per cent) or siblings (3 per cent) –being able to give sound advice in response is key.
It’s not just parents who are concerned when it comes to vices and behaviour as children reveal that they dislike their parents swearing (38 per cent), smoking (29 per cent) and arguing (39 per cent) the most.
Jacqueline Harding, content director of Parentchannel.tv said:
“Being a parent is the toughest job of them all, and with one in three parents feeling the most pressure from the children to be a good parent, there is no respite from parental demands. This is why the videos on Parentchannel.tv are designed to be easy to access and are divided into three simple categories – learning, behaviour and wellbeing – and can be accessed from any computer. It is designed to support and advise parents on a variety of family life topics, and ensures that access to a wealth of experience and information is always just a click away.”
Parentchannel.tv features: Bite-size, user friendly advice videos: - Covering an age range of 5-19 year olds
- Addressing a range of issues from the everyday to the hard hitting, including drugs, sex, bulling and growing-up
- Parents can share the videos with each other or embed them to their own web pages or social networking sites
- The editor’s blog keeps parents up to date with commentary on the news and views of families
- A weekly online poll tracks the views and opinions of the visiting parents on a variety of hot topics – from what children should learn at school to parenting best practice and know how
Click here to view an introduction to parentchannel.tv
Sue Berelowitz, deputy Children’s Commissioner said, “Strong families are vital to society and children’s welfare is indivisible from that of their parents. That’s why Parentchannel.tv is an important service. I am confident that it will be a valuable resource for millions of parents across the country."
As children get older, parenting becomes tougher – according to the research, with 44 per cent of parents saying 13-16 year olds is the hardest age group to be a parent for. Children’s attitudes seem to reflect this with a noticeable shift from finding parents’ advice helpful to embarrassing between 5-11 year olds and 12-15 year olds – 54 per cent and 50 per cent respectively find advice helpful, compared to 40 per cent and 51 per cent respectively finding advice embarrassing.
Parentchannel.tv has been designed and built by a consortium of experts from the voluntary and private sectors, who have come together to develop the online video information service for parents. The service is funded by The Department for Children, Schools and Families’.
Research:
Online polls of 2000 parents and 758 children conducted between 12-15 January 2010, by 72Point on behalf of Parentchannel.tv.
*Sexuality:
The question listed ‘sexuality’ as a response option, assuming a broad definition beyond sexual orientation, and including puberty and becoming sexually active.
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