Children's Needs – Parenting Capacity - Digital Education Resource ...

142 Children’s Needs – Parenting Capacitylose touch with friends. Children may also stay away from school or miss classesbecause they are worried about their parents; for example they may be concernedabout their mother’s mental health and wish to be there to help (Maybery et al.2005) or anxious over their mother’s safety (NCH Action for Children 1994).When parental problems result in parents needing residential treatment, childrenreport that this affects their school attendance (Maybery et al. 2005).The other issue in relation to education is the child’s behaviour in school. Emeryand colleagues (1982) found that parental schizophrenia was associated withproblematic school behaviour in children. The same direct relationship was notobtained in cases of maternal depression unless marital discord was also present.Children of parents with alcohol or drug problems, compared with children whoseparents did not abuse substances, have been shown to experience higher levelsof ‘fighting, teasing, irritability, and anger, and of interpersonal difficulties at school’(Covell and Howe 2009, p.117). Similarly, there is evidence that children exposedto domestic violence are more likely to be aggressive and have difficulty in adheringto school rules (Holt et al. 2008). However, it is important not to pathologise allchildren of parents with problems. Research by VanDeMark and colleagues (2005)found that in a study of children of women entering treatment for drug abuse,most did not evidence behavioural problems. Cleaver and colleagues (2007) foundeducation was not a cause for concern for two-thirds of children aged 5 to 9 yearswho were living with domestic violence. Research suggests that it is the co-morbidityof child abuse and exposure to domestic violence that accounts for behaviouralproblems amongst children of substance abusers (Nicholas and Rasmussen 2006;Cleaver et al. 2007).Research also shows that not only do the majority of children whose parents haveproblems not evidence any behavioural problems at school, but for some childrenschool offers respite and a safe haven from troubled home circumstances. Childrencan use school as an escape and gain a sense of accomplishment through sport oracademic achievement (Joseph et al. 2006).Emotional and behavioural developmentExpected developmentChildren trust and confide in adults and seek comfort from them when distressed.In most situations children are able to manage their emotions when upset throughdrawing on an internal working model that represents them as loved and effective(Schofield 2006).Children aged 5–6 years are frequently very active with a poor ability to modulatetheir behaviour. Concepts of ownership are not yet fully established and it is notunusual for 6-year-olds to take things that belong to others. For example, childrenin infant school may come home having ‘found’ pencils or small toys.