What do the parents of tomorrow know about child care? A survey of 14–16 year olds

What do the parents of tomorrow know about child care? This study aimed to obtain a baseline measurement of child care knowledge, to ascertain any differences in knowledge between adolescents with and without mild to moderate learning difficulties (MLD). In addition, we were interested to establish the effect of school nurse health education health input on knowledge in the learning difficulties subgroup. Assessment was by self‐completed questionnaire and interview of a random sample of 14–16 year olds attending mainstream and special schools. Sixty pupils from secondary school and 33 from a MLD school took part in the study. Pupil knowledge in basic parenting and child care was dependent on the type of school attended, reading ability of those attending the MLD school and the provision of health education in the special school by the school nurse. No associations were found between pupils knowledge and their gender, family position or family size. Pupils from both schools scored lower in the areas of health service organisation and personnel, health promotion and management of common childhood conditions. Adolescents have insufficient knowledge of basic child care and services available for new parents. The effect of school based health education in these areas is promising. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.