The Boys' and Girls' Schools welcomed (albeit virtually) Dr Aric Sigman to speak to a mixed group of senior school parents from both Schools on ‘Parenting the Demanding Generation’.

After explaining the title of his talk, and the sort of challenges facing parents today, which their own parents would never have had to deal with, Dr Sigman touched on a wide range of particular aspects of parenting, from managing screen-time to how best to instil sensible attitudes towards alcohol and drugs in teenagers.

Throughout, he endorsed a firm, clear and boundaried approach to parenting, pulling straightforward, pragmatic and actionable suggestions out of the vast swathe of literature he is clearly very familiar with. Examples included the importance of family meals (even if only a few times a week and only with one parent at a time), ensuring you have regular, entirely uninterrupted quality time with children (however brief it has to be), and using any opportunity to set up a debate and encourage children to develop their own voice and opinions.

Dr Sigman also talked about the importance of a supportive relationship between parents and school, where these two important influences in a child’s life work as a team. We were delighted to see so many parents and guardians join us for the live event and hope that many others will listen to the recorded version which has been circulated with accompanying resources; we look forward to seeing lots more at our first student-led parent PSHCE information evening on July 5.