By Divonne Holmes à Court  

One of the most significant events of Kevin Rudd's term in office so far has been the recent 2020 Summit in Canberra. Over a busy two days, hundreds of people spent time together to discuss the best ideas and solutions for our country's future. Some ideas were smarter than others, but one of the most interesting themes to emerge was around prevention. We're all aware that acting now helps avoiding problems later - the 2020 summit discussed that investing in prevention today has a much better long term payoff than waiting for the problem to occur down the line and then trying to cure it.

But looking ahead to the future is hard and planning for it can be even harder. I only started thinking about the future when I became a parent for the first time.

Parents are put under considerable pressure to shoulder the burden of the country's future and they are given a lot of flak when things go wrong. However, we're not doing enough to equip them with the best information to make parenting a little easier and a little less stressful.

Information is a very powerful thing but in today's age of information overload, the quality of information is what differentiates the helpful from the time-wasting or even damaging.

In my view, ‘quality information' has several important obligations: firstly, can the reader trust it and understand it and then, secondly, apply it in practical terms to their own individual circumstances?

Here is an example of how, without an understanding of the reasons and purposes behind simple advice, information can get misinterpreted and misunderstood. 

Self-esteem is one of the key characteristics that parents are told their children need to have. So, as devoted parents, this is something we strive to give them. But, it's easier said than done. Kids actually have to earn self-esteem on their own by overcoming hurdles and challenges, according to one of the world's leading experts on self-esteem and optimism, Dr. Martin Seligman. It actually doesn't work if you just give it to them.

Telling a parent, ‘you have to make sure you promote your child's self-esteem' doesn't really cut it. So what does this all mean to a parent? The more parents can understand the reasons behind the advice and how it works, the better they can interpret advice for their individual circumstances. To make this happen may take a slightly bigger investment of time in the beginning, but it will pay off enormously in the long run.

Here is an example of the mechanics behind the advice:

If a child can make sense of their first little world (their family and mini-community), feel safe and be OK about themselves, then they can move on to the next level of thinking: namely, problem-solving.  Becoming good at problem-solving also gives them confidence and resilience as they get older when the pressures of life or peers can get them down. And to learn problem-solving, all they need is: (1) exposure to some appropriate challenges, (2) some space to solve them, and (3) logical results. That is one of the basic building blocks of learning.  

Parents are hungry to learn these types of things, because, when all is said and done, they really want what's best for their children. Parents also know intuitively what's best for their children is also best for them and, fundamentally, for the future of the country.

Divonne Holmes à Court is executive director of www.raisingchildren.net.au - the Australian parenting information web site. She is also the mother of two sets of twins - boys aged eight and four-year-old girls and is an active supporter of making early childhood and education research available to parents.