Parenting ~ It Just Comes Naturally, Right?

It does, doesn't it? I mean, people have been popping out babies since the beginning of humanity. If they hadn't known how to care for their progeny, we wouldn't be here. Right?

Of course, there was a time when youngsters learned to parent at home, with the raising up of their siblings. Older kids, girls in particular, helped with the household chores, including the watching, changing, feeding of younger sibs. Boys also helped with the chores, but these were more likely outdoor, seasonal, farm chores, etc. Still, these taught them responsibility.

Well, times change ~ industrial revolution, child labour laws, schools... Do you remember baby dolls? I do. I even had one. The idea of the baby doll was to acquaint little girls with the care and raising of babies. In fact, most human play initiated by toys was, at one time, intended to teach to some degree. "No, no!" said Mom. "You don't drag a baby by its leg, bumping it's head along on the ground! Here's how you carry a baby." My baby doll could wet herself. Of course, after the first few times, Mom put a stop to that, what with all the wet spots all over the living room. The little baby bottle disappeared. The little diapers didn't work quite like real ones. {snicker}

Anyway, I digress. So yeah, way back, play was instructional. Ah, but since it was decided that children need to be in school from about the age of 4 onward, playtime isn't the same. Alas, we weren't allowed to play a whole lot in school. Oh kindergarten was fun. But it isn't as if we could play with dolls. There was serious scissor work to be done, and letters to learn, and stories... so many stories.

And of course, even the playtime available has evolved over the last half century. Baby dolls have given way to the Barbie with all its fashion and accessories. And hunting, fishing, fixing the tractor, car, or whatever, has given way to the video game. Boys are still playing war, but it isn't about physical stealth and target shooting, although they are learning some great hand~eye coordination. And then there's TV... tons of potential, and yet....

Hmmm... so what about these parenting skills? How are kids learning these? With both Mom and Dad working in our society, and with school work, TV and video games taking up so much of their lives, where are kids picking up these skills? Do they learn how to parent from Mom and Dad rushing them around to organized sports, music or dance lessons, cheerleading practice? Could something be missing?

Some schools are experimenting with parenting classes for teens these days, I hear. That's where the teacher sends a student home with a bag of flour to be cared for. This can have interesting results. Still, an effort is being made. Before writing this, I googled "parenting classes in schools" with limited results. So I'm wondering, shouldn't parenting skills just be part of what kids are learning in school? I mean from a young age too. Just as they take health, physical education and history, should they not be taught the basics of caring for another, little human being?

I just can't help wondering. Afterall, we need a licence to drive a car, or pilot a plane or boat. We need one to get married, or to hunt, fish, to sell real estate, or even to have a dog. And yet, no classes and no licence is required to procreate. Not that I'm advocating this. It's just that for something this important, and with issues such as bullying, anger management, social skills and more surfacing as areas of social concern, wouldn't the learning of parenting skills in school be a good thing? Anyway, I think so. Caring is still important. Isn't it?

Just wondering.

A nod to Crystal Jigsaw, whose blog post got me to thinkin'. The link to her blog is: http://crystaljigsaw.blogspot.com/