Factors That Lead to the Success of Responsible Parenthood – SS2 Civic Education Lesson Note (Third Term)

Responsible parenthood is the act of parents meeting the physical, educational, moral and emotional needs of their children.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. state the factors that lead to the success of responsible parenthood;
2. explain each of these factors;
3. list the constraints of good parenthood;
4. explain how each constraint affects parents and children.

What is responsible parenthood?

Responsible parenthood is the duty of parents to bring up their children well and to provide for their needs.

• Parent: a father, mother or guardian who has the care of a child.
• Responsible parent: one who plans for the family and attends to the needs of every child.
• Success factor: a condition that helps parents to carry out their duties well.
• Constraint: a condition that makes it hard for parents to carry out their duties.

What are the needs of children that parents must meet?

Parents must meet five main needs of children: basic needs, education, health care, moral training, and love and care.

• Basic needs: food, clothing and shelter.
• Education: paying school fees and providing books and uniforms.
• Health care: feeding well, immunisation and treatment when a child is sick.
• Moral training: teaching honesty, respect and good behaviour.
• Love and care: giving attention, guidance and protection.

Why is responsible parenthood important?

Responsible parenthood produces healthy, educated and well-behaved children who become useful citizens.

• For the child: the child grows up healthy, schooled and morally upright.
• For the family: the home is peaceful and the family stays united.
• For society: fewer children are left on the streets or drawn into crime.
• For the nation: well-trained young people become future leaders and workers.

What factors lead to the success of responsible parenthood?

There are seven factors that lead to the success of responsible parenthood: effective education, good values system, employment opportunity, family size, enlightenment campaign, good governance, and respect for law and order.

1. Effective education

• Meaning: good education gives parents knowledge and exposure.
• Effect: educated parents know how to attend to the needs of their children.
• Example: an educated parent understands the value of health care and of schooling.

2. Good values system

• Meaning: values are the beliefs and standards that guide behaviour in society.
• Effect: positive values teach us to be respectful, honest, responsible and patriotic.
• Result: when society shows positive values, responsible parenthood is promoted.

3. Employment opportunity

• Meaning: engagement in economic activities that give a steady income.
• Effect: parents with income can provide the basic needs of their children.
• Problem: parents without jobs or good jobs may not be able to lead a responsible family.

4. Family size

• Meaning: the number of people living together as a family.
• Effect: a small family promotes responsible parenthood more than a larger one.
• Reason: food, school fees and attention are shared among fewer children.
• Rule: family size should not be larger than the family’s income can support.

5. Enlightenment campaign

• Meaning: public programmes that teach people the importance of responsible parenthood.
• Channels: radio, television, schools, churches, mosques and community meetings.
• Effect: they influence parents to respond to the needs of their children.

6. Good governance

• Meaning: a responsive and responsible government that serves its citizens.
• Effect: it provides infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, water and roads.
• Result: parents are better able to be responsible.

7. Respect for law and order

• Meaning: obeying the rules of society and the authority of the law.
• Effect: people tend to be more responsible in a society where law and order are respected.
• Result: homes are safer for children to grow up in.

What are the constraints of good parenthood?

There are six constraints of good parenthood: poverty, illiteracy, customs and traditions, bad governance, unemployment, and environmental factors.

1. Poverty

• Meaning: the inability of parents to provide food, clothing and shelter for the family.
• Effect on parents: when parents cannot fend for themselves, they struggle to meet other needs.
• Effect on children: their educational, social, material and financial needs are not met.

2. Illiteracy

• Meaning: inability to read and write, with little knowledge and exposure.
• Effect on parents: they lack the knowledge that ensures good and responsible parenthood.
• Effect on children: they are left at the mercy of peers and neighbours for survival.

3. Customs and traditions

• Meaning: traditional practices and cultural beliefs that restrict good parenthood.
• Example: in some cultures, sending a girl child to school is seen as a waste of time and resources.
• Effect on children: uneducated children may grow up to become threats in society.

4. Bad governance

• Meaning: a government that is not responsive to the needs of citizens.
• Effect on parents: they become deficient in their responsibilities.
• Effect on society: it can lead to criminality, insecurity, injustice and conflicts.

5. Unemployment

• Meaning: parents are not gainfully employed.
• Effect on parents: circumstances may compel them to become bad parents.
• Effect on feelings: they have low self-esteem and a high sense of inadequacy.

6. Environmental factors

• Meaning: the surroundings in which parents and children live.
• Principle: people are products of their environment.
• Effect on children: they often copy the lifestyle, behaviour and attitude of their immediate environment.

How does each success factor relate to a constraint?

Each success factor has a matching constraint, which is the problem that appears when the factor is missing.

How can the constraints of good parenthood be reduced?

The constraints can be reduced through education, jobs, awareness, family planning and government action.

• Education: encourage both boys and girls to attend school.
• Jobs: create employment so that parents can earn a living.
• Awareness: hold enlightenment campaigns against harmful customs.
• Family planning: keep family size within what the income can support.
• Government action: provide good schools, health services and security.

Evaluation

1. List five factors that lead to the success of responsible parenthood.
2. Explain how effective education helps parents to attend to the needs of their children.
3. Why is a small family said to promote responsible parenthood?
4. State four constraints of good parenthood.
5. Explain how the environment can limit good parenthood.

Assignment

Explain how good governance and respect for law and order help parents to be responsible, and describe how poverty and unemployment make it difficult for parents to care for their children.