This puzzles me. Why is parenting education an infrequent topic of conversation on PACES Connection?
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Good question! I'm working with legislators in Missouri to change our "Health" class requirement for graduation to "Health and Family Education". We can't expect to break generational cycles of family dysfunction without making parenting and child development classes a priority within our high schools systems. www,cope24.com
Who would write the curriculum for the Family Education component?
Things I'm sure you're thinking aboutâĶ
Interest groups will attack your proposal and/or demand input.
Will all Missouri school districts be required to offer these classes?
Would the class be an elective or would it be required?
How many classroom hours of family education?
If parents have a problem with the curriculum will they be allowed to opt their children out of the class?
Would this just be for high school?
What if the student fails the class?
How will conflicts between what is being taught and the studentsâ reality be handled?
Will parenting behaviors and practices generally recognized as supporting the healthy
I can't answer all of your questions at this point. In Missouri, Health is already a mandated requirement for graduation from high school. Our proposal would be to roll the mandated health class into "Health and Family Education" so this would also be a mandated requirement without adding any additional requirements. Currently, many of the issues discussed in health class are focused on health and me the student. The new class would change the focus to health and me the student but also me the parent in the future. As a parent my decisions don't just affect me but also my spouse and children. So many of the same topics will be discussed/taught like drug and alcohol or mental health but now with a focus on the family.
The original bill called for a work group to be assembled to create the curriculum. The work group would include DESE (Depart. of Edu), FACS (Family Consumer Science) teachers and advocates. This year we will probably tweak the work group component to focus more on FACS teachers, advocates and possible the state school board. In my opinion, the most competent people to write the curriculum are the FACS teachers as they are already teaching classes like parenting, child development, adult living and family relations.
This type of legislation must be done state to state. Anyone interested in working on this effort in their state can follow our progress starting in Jan 2023 at our website www.cope24.com. Our bill can be used as a template in other states. Each state would have their own set of circumstances to deal with and would probably need to make changes but it would offer a starting point.
