NAME:__________________________________ CLASS 4 LINE 1

SOCIAL STUDIES

LESSON NOTE

PREPARATION FOR PARENTHOOD (Also cite pgs. 30; 26-33 of MODULES IN SOCIAL
STUDIES)

Parenthood is a very serious undertaking with many responsibilities. Parenthood has very serious
implications for the parents, the child and the society. Therefore, individuals should not become
parents before they have given very careful thought to these responsibilities and implications.
However, parents may be able to avoid many of the problems associated with parenthood if they are
well prepared for it.

Factors Which Assist In the Preparation for Responsible Parenthood

A family plan

In preparing for parenthood, a couple should make a family plan. It should include:

 The number of children they plan to have;

 When they will have them;
 How they will provide for them.

Guidance on parenting

A couple should seek to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to bring up the child in
the right way.

There are always new challenges to parenting which may not be solved in the traditional way.

Individuals, therefore, need exposure to new skills and techniques in parenting.

The exposure to good parenting skills in their home, when growing up, may also help to prepare an
individual for responsible parenthood.

Adequate financial resources

The couple should be financially prepared in order to provide the basic needs of the child and meet
the other demands of the home.

Physical maturity

Pregnancy is a condition that carries many health risks, particularly if the women is not physically
mature enough for it. The female’s body should, therefore, be developed sufficiently to enable her to
go through the period of pregnancy and to deliver the baby without endangering her health or life.

Emotional and psychological readiness

A baby changes the lives of its parents who have make adjustments to provide proper care for the
baby. The couple should, therefore, be emotionally and psychologically prepared for the challenges
which may arise when they become parents.

Mrs. Blackwell-Abayomi
Family Life Education

Early family planning programmes were limited to educating the population about spacing births
through the use of contraceptives and making contraceptives affordable and available.

In recent times there has been a shift away from family planning, as described above, to family life
education which provides a more comprehensive approach to family issues such as:

 Human sexuality
 Reproductive health;
 Self- esteem
 Values
 Relationships
 Parenting
 Family planning and contraception
 Sexually transmitted diseases.

These are all issues on which young people, especially, need information and professional guidance.

The importance of family-life education

After listening to a lecture entitled “How family-life education may prepare boys and girls for
responsible parenthood” a student noted the points listed below.

Family-life education:

 Provides information related to the development and functions of the body;

 Provides training through simulation in solving problems which parents may meet; Teaches
how to socialize and develop healthy relationships with persons of the opposite sex;
 Helps to develop respect for wholesome family life;
 Teaches parenting skills and the responsibilities of parenthood;
 Provides individuals with information to make a family plan so that they may avoid unwanted
pregnancies.
 Educates women about how to improve their quality of life by spacing and reducing the
number of births;
 Teaches family planning technique and the relationship between sex and pregnancy;
 Helps to save the lives of women who are prone to high –risk pregnancy and birth by helping
them to avoid pregnancy;
 Helps to prevent illegal abortions as there will be less unwanted pregnancy;
 Helps to improve the health of children as fewer and widely spaced births would enable
parents to better provide for provide for children’s nutritional and other needs

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD PARENT

We have noted that parents have to socialize their children; provide their basic needs and provide
emotional support for them.
Parents need certain skills in order to perform these functions.
Good parents should have:
Communication skills so that they can talk to their children and also be able to listen to
them;
Socialization skills in order to teach their children the values, norms and mores of the
society;
Disciplinary skills in order to deal with inappropriate behaviour demonstrated by their
children

Mrs. Blackwell-Abayomi