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A raft of parental guidance from Westminster is patronising and unnecessary, says Claire Fox. How many government initiatives does it take to make a good parent? Quite a few, if November is anything to go by. For example: the DfES, working with 50 councils, is to spend £1m training 1,000 practitioners on family intervention projects and ‘intensive packages of support and enforcement' the prime minister launched a £4m programme to fund the appointment of ‘parenting experts' in 77 local authorities – dubbed the ‘Supernannies' scheme constitutional affairs minister, Harriet Harman, warned that shift-parenting was eroding family life children's minister, Beverly Hughes, announced the creation of a National Academy for Parenting Practitioners to provide ‘reliable' advice on child-rearing education secretary, Alan Johnson, announced new powers to fine parents of bullies £1,000, and at the Home Office, John Reid unveiled measures to give councils powers to force parents of problem children to attend courses. Phew! That's a lot of official activity, and a lot of dosh for local authorities to join the ‘supporting parenting' bandwagon. This parenting lark must be really hard if it takes so many initiatives. How did generations of parents ever get through it without turning us all into monsters? Scepticism is not allowed. While ‘respect guru' Louise Casey insists: ‘Liberals with a small L, including myself, feel uncomfortable with controlling and coercion…' No – she wasn't drunk – the ASBO Tsar actually believes she's an anti-coercion liberal! Louise, et al, are convinced that parents want official help. I will just have to bite my lip rather than ridicule this supernanny state with its patronising proposals to send parents for lessons in how to sing nursery rhymes to their toddlers. After all, this is a scientifically-evidenced policy. The Home Office commissioned a special poll which found 53% of the public believe poor parenting is the main reason for anti-social behaviour. Wherever did people get that idea? Surely they can't have been influenced by the endless barrage of propaganda selling that very message? Ministers cite the popularity of TV's Supernanny, House Of Tiny Tearaways, and Driving Mum And Dad Mad as ‘evidence' of a huge appetite for expert advice on raising children. But is it really appropriate to base social policy on the success of TV ‘entertainment'? There is a lot of truth in Ms Hughes' assertion that many parents have lost confidence in how to bring up their children. One reason parenting has become so angst-ridden is that we are continually told it is, ‘the toughest thing anyone faces in their personal lives' (Tony Blair). Will these new initiatives help? The new supernannies are described as having a ‘clinical psychologist-type role'. If anything is likely to make parents feel inadequate, it's being put on the therapist's couch. Mr Johnson told a conference in November that, ‘although parenting is an intensely private matter, it has immense public consequences'. Hence, scapegoating parents for society's ills. No wonder parents are fraught when they are blamed for crime and hooliganism. Who wouldn't feel undermined when told that without institutional support, they risk raising a damaged child. If parents ask, ‘What should I be doing?', maybe it's because documents like the DfES's Parenting support, guidance for local authorities in England state that everything a parent does – will shape children's lives. The report glibly states that bad parenting is a reliable predictor of mental health problems, obesity, drug and alcohol abuse, and teenage pregnancy. What do local authorities know about parenting? Councils are asked to ‘ensure that all staff delivering parenting support have the right skills'. But parenting does not comprise NVQ-style skills. Who do you trust? Salaried staff armed with ‘correct parenting' checklists or the love offered by 99.9% of parents who have their children's best interests at heart? n Claire Fox is director of the Institute of Ideas.

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CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Why all this nannying from the state?

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