News
New report reveals parents top worries
Tuesday 21 October 2008
At the start of National Parenting Week (20-26 October), our helpline ParentLine Scotland (0808 800 2222) unveils a new report revealing parents' top concerns.
Top of the list of worries is dealing with children's behaviour (26%), with many parents of teenagers struggling with issues such as their child's misuse of drugs or alcohol (12%), or handling their child's temper.
In over half of the calls, parents were concerned about health problems - including their own or their child's emotional or mental health. Almost a quarter (24%) of calls were related to parental separation or divorce, with 55% of these involving difficulties with contact arrangements between the non-resident parent and children.
Many parents also spoke about struggling with stress, anxiety or feeling isolated, or the fact that their children were being bullied (10%) or abused (20%).
"Parents often feel they have to deal with their concerns on their own"
Jill Cook, manager of ParentLine Scotland, said: "This report shows the breadth of difficulties that parents are dealing with, from drug or alcohol use to mental health problems and bullying."
"Parents can often feel that they have to deal with their concerns on their own, but we would encourage them to contact ParentLine Scotland for a bit of advice or information, or just to talk through their concerns whenever things are getting tough."
She continued: "We encourage members of the public who are parents or know parents to read this report as a unique insight into some of the difficulties that parents face in Scotland today. We also urge policy makers to read this report to make sure the decisions they make are designed to make life easier for Scotland's parents and carers."
Summary of concerns raised with ParentLine Scotland Oct 08 (1MB pdf)
Last updated: Saturday 11 April 2009
