Child Development

Baroness Massey of Darwen Excerpts

Thursday 11th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Massey of Darwen]

My Lords, I am grateful to the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Chester for introducing this debate on such an important issue.

I returned to teaching when my children went to school and I was asked to teach a CSE subject called child development, as well as French and English. It may be that they thought that, having been a mother, I knew all about child development, and of course no one ever does. As part of this course, pupils—sadly, only girls—learnt about healthy pregnancy, language development, physical development, diet, emotional development and play. They had to do a case study by watching a child for a month and spending one afternoon a week in a playgroup. I hope that those girls learnt that if a child has love, social and emotional skills and the opportunity to play, their development will be off to a good start. I hope that it helped them to become better and more confident parents. Of course, every pupil of every ability should learn about child development. Sadly, the Government do not seem interested in citizenship education or personal, social and health education. I doubt that we shall see these important skills given any emphasis—at least for a while.

There is nothing new about what children need to flourish. If we look along the shelves in bookstores at any section relating to bringing up a baby, we see that despite varying fashions and diverse gurus—mine was Dr Spock—the basic message is the same: children need love, social skills, a good diet, language and play. Sadly, some children enter primary school without this attention and they are unable to learn. They do not know how to play or socialise, do not know what a book looks like and have no sense of how numbers work. Such children are likely to have difficulty in achieving and in contributing productively to society. Some will end up in the criminal justice system, have early pregnancy or seek solace in drugs or alcohol.

Other noble Lords have spoken eloquently about internet safety. I, too, am concerned, and I support the Bill of the noble Baroness, Lady Howe. I am particularly concerned about pornography and other unsuitable material. I am concerned about mobile technology, which is of course wonderful, but how often do we see parents or carers absorbed in a mobile phone call, with a child alongside getting no attention? We have the problem of balancing these new technologies with effective child development.

The Government have expressed good intentions on child development—many reviews have already been cited. We are blessed with an extraordinarily committed and active voluntary sector for children. However, the first child development begins with parents and in families, and I am aware that many organisations are seriously worried about the impact of government austerity on families. I am not saying that poverty or austerity are the only problems here, but deprivation is a serious issue. Research by the Family and Parenting Institute points out that,

“families with children are shouldering a disproportionate burden ... equivalent to an annual reduction of £1,250 for a couple with two children”.

Deprivation does count and it affects families.

We have already heard about the early intervention grant and subsequent cuts to Sure Start programmes. There are now 124 fewer Sure Start centres than there were when the coalition Government came to power. What does the Minister have to say to all this? Surely, in order to encourage positive child development and break cycles of poverty and underachievement, we need investment in high-quality support for parents, childcare and schooling. Stressed and exhausted parents often find it difficult to cope with, let alone support, the learning and development of their children. Having children is expensive and demanding. Parents should not be bearing a significant proportion of tax and benefit reforms. How can the Government speak of their support for good child development, yet punish parents and children in this way?