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TheChat – Conversations with parents

  • Area of Work: Children and Young People
  • Type: News Item
  • Published: 29th October 2024
Four people, one in a wheelchair, speaking.

Resources to support parents talk about how they support their children when it comes to learning about friendships, relationships and more

TheChat was commissioned to find out how parents support their children at home when it comes to learning about friendships and relationships, growing up and puberty, being safe and issues like consent. Parents have also talked about wanting their teenage children to understand about relationships and sexual health. In this new reporting we use the term parent to mean both parents and carers; this includes any family member with direct caring responsibility, as well as foster carers and kinship carers.

“Communication and open conversation is something that doesn’t start once they’re older. The work needs to be put in when they’re younger so you can have open conversations, as the trust has been built.” – Survey response, parent/carer of 12–18-year-old

Conversations with parents – called ‘chats’ – and a national survey have provided insight into life at home and how parents want to support their child from the early years, through childhood and into the teenage years so that they are equipped to be healthy, happy and safe in their friendships and relationships.

New reporting which can be found on theChat website, has shown that parents are the primary and most important educators of their children on all these matters, but we have also taken time to talk about what parents know and think about nursery and school-based learning. We talked about what parents want to see in terms of how school and home should work together to support learning.

For more information about the Chat contact Elaine McCormack: Elaine.McCormack@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

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