Jennie Bristow’s Guide to Subversive Parenting
In her columns on spiked and the Huffington Post UK, Jennie Bristow sends the latest parenting fads and panics to the naughty step.
Abortion is Not a Mental Health Problem
Huffington Post, 9 December 2011
Working Mothers and the Government’s Two Faces
Huffington Post, 28 November 2011
Parents should rise up against this neurotrash
spiked, 19 September 2011
Dodgy neuroscience is being used to justify unprecedented levels of state intrusion into family life.
Dump the Neurotrash and Leave Parents Alone, Say Academics
Huffington Post, 15 September 2011
These riots were not a product of permissiveness
spiked, 30 August 2011
Blaming the looting on the ‘liberal experiment’ of the 1960s is not only wrong - it could also make the real problems in urban communities worse.
London Riots: Why Politicians Shouldn’t Reach for the Parenting Classes
Huffington Post, 12 August 2011
The ‘Foundation Years’: For a New Generation of Mini-Camerons?
Huffington Post, 19 July 2011
Lib-Con family policy: Maggie meets Mary Poppins
spiked, 18 July 2011
The coalition’s family policy is an unholy marriage of Thatcher-style traditional moralism and New Labour-style therapeutic interventionism.
Social Mobility: Who’s Winning in the School-Fiddling Wars?
Huffington Post, 27 June 2011
The new parenting catfight: Tiger Moms vs Fun Slobs
spiked, 26 May 2011
The nature/nurture debate is as unhelpful as ever in solving the problem of raising children.
Women: equal at work, still unequal at home?
spiked, 1 April 2011
Christina Hopkinson’s sparkly new novel has been read as a privileged mum’s moan about cleaning. In fact it raises more than a few awkward questions about domestic drudgery.
How the vetting frenzy alienates adults from kids
spiked, 10 February 2011
The state’s vetting of adults working with children suggests it no longer trusts us to use our judgement to socialise the next generation.
An open letter to Nick Clegg
spiked, 20 January 2011
You say you want to move away from New Labour’s hectoring of parents. So why all the child-targeted ‘early interventionism’?
Bringing up baby is not an exact science
spiked, 28 September 2010
I’m not a neuroscientist or a psychologist, but I’m going to trust my gut feeling that most ‘parenting science’ is utter rubbish.
Big Society: there’s more to politics than the PTA
spiked, 21 July 2010
There are some good instincts behind the Lib-Cons’ BS agenda. But it risks reducing politics to the level of community cakebaking.
Sure Start: a fancy new way to police the family
spiked, 22 June 2010
Sure Start’s main achievement has been to transform the social problem of child poverty into an individual problem of poor parenting.
The ‘Mumsnet election’ doesn’t get my vote
spiked, 8 April 2010
Britain’s political leaders are fawning over professional, campaigning mums, but they still look down their noses at ordinary parents.
There’s more to human character than sharing toys
spiked, 16 November 2009
Demos should go on the naughty step for arguing that parenting style determines whether kids become good, bad and even middle class.
There’s more to parenthood than egg production
spiked, 22 September 2009
Treating all women as mothers-to-be, who must conform to certain health and behaviour norms, turns us into little more than farmyard hens.
This vetting scheme makes strangers of us all
spiked, 13 August 2009
For generations, parents invited other adults to help raise and care for their kids. Now those relationships are being corroded by the state.
The state should stay out of home schooling
spiked, 15 June 2009
The UK plan to clamp down on home-schooling, partly to ensure children aren’t being abused, is a serious assault on parental autonomy.
Your child’s Body Mass Index is nobody’s business but yours
spiked, 27 May 2009
As part of its fatwa against fat the government is measuring every schoolkids’ height and weight. It’s a waste of time – and bad for children.
Be sceptical about ‘bad childhood’ reports
spiked, 17 February 2009
With so many shrill studies telling us that parents are selfish and uncaring, is it any wonder some children might feel a little insecure?
The kids don’t know it all
spiked, 15 December 2008
In Britain’s ‘new vision’ for primary education, adults are reduced to the mere flatterers of techno-savvy kids. It’s a recipe for ignorance.
Strong families need more than money.
spiked, 22 October 2008
With both the state and market proving unreliable, maybe families will look to each other for support in hard times.
Not everyone you know is a latent paedophile.
spiked, 18 September 2008
The government’s Sarah’s Law won’t save children from abuse, but it will have a poisonous effect on community life.
Nobody needs a ‘Grandparents’ Charter’
spiked, 9 September 2008
Grandparents don’t want a rulebook to manage their childcare responsibilities: they just want a life as well.
You don’t have to love your maternity leave
spiked, 17 July 2008
Let’s admit it - maternity leave can be a chore.
An ‘action plan’ won’t stop teen drinking
spiked, 4 June 2008
The problem with teenage drinking is not their livers, but their lives: they’re sticking two blurred fingers up at today’s stifling adult culture.
Parents are allowed to get drunk on holiday
spiked, 8 May 2008
The mad reaction to the story of a mum and dad who got paralytic in Portugal reveals a snobbish and unforgiving attitude towards parents today.
‘School choice’ is a political cop-out
spiked, 10 April 2008
The schizophrenic promotion/demonisation of parental choice in schooling leaves parents dejected, and kids no better educated.
There’s no ‘right time’ to have a baby
spiked, 11 March 2008
Concerns about older mothers are based on moralism, not medicine.
There’s nothing wrong with ‘electronic babysitting’
spiked, 22 January 2008
So why do supermums and officials think there is?
Have a merry Christmas
spiked, 20 December 2007
Ignore the killjoys kicking up a fuss about pester power, toys-as-consumerism and secret paedophiles in Santa suits: Xmas with kids is fun.
There is no right way to ‘Bring Up Baby’
spiked, 8 November 2007
The tantrums generated by the Channel 4 series Bringing Up Baby exposes our screamingly unhealthy obsession with parenting methods.
Having children can be good for you — and society
spiked, 29 August 2007
In No Kids, Corinne Maier taps into Western culture’s guilty secret: rhetorically it celebrates kids; actually it fears and dislikes them.
Get real about nappies (and dustbins)
spiked, 23 July 2007
Ignore the worthy exhortations to use ‘real nappies’ and wash clothes in cold water.
Pregnancy does not damage your child
spiked, 29 May 2007
Picking apart the hectoring advice that is dished out to pregnant women about everything from food and booze to smoking and hair-dye.
It’s not All About You
spiked, 11 April 2007
What’s behind the proliferation of mummy identities?
You and your child have the same interests
spiked, 19 March 2007
The cult of child-centredness misses the point of family relationships.
Other writing and broadcasting by and featuring Jennie Bristow.
A fresh-faced look at growing old
spiked Review of Books, December 2011
In Never Say Die, Susan Jacoby elbows aside old prejudices about ageing and the ‘illderly’ and asks instead how society can sensibly cope with having lots of older people.
Abortion and Mental Health
Radio Four Woman’s Hour, 9 December 2011
A major review of abortion has concluded it doesn’t increase the risk of a woman suffering mental health problems. Prof Tim Kendall, a member of the steering group which carried out the review, and Jennie Bristow, editor of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service’s Abortion Review, join Jenni Murray to discuss the findings.
Taking the fun out of marriage
Prospect, 28 October 2011
It is right that society offers ‘Ground E’ abortions
spiked, 5 May 2011
The anti-choice lobby’s obsession with abortions for fetal abnormality reveals its vindictive use and abuse of statistics.
Big Society
Jennie Bristow’s column in PTA Magazine, Spring 2011
How Britain’s abortion law punishes women
spiked, 14 February 2011
The UK High Court will rule today on whether women should be free to carry out ‘early medical abortion’ at home. Jennie Bristow reports.
Is the self-help industry making anyone happier?
Radio Four Woman’s Hour, 18 January 2011
Life coach Fiona Harrold and write Jennie Bristow discuss.
Page Three Girls and porn-again feminists
spiked, 22 November 2010
It really is sad that so many feminists get their knickers in a twist about the Sun’s topless beauties.
‘Be aroused, men of Britain’
Radio Four Today, 19 November 2010
Feminist writer Bea Campbell and journalist Jennie Bristow discuss the controversies surrounding The Sun‘s Page Three.
Bringing Up Britain
Radio Four, 13 October 2010
Where has it all gone wrong with children and food? The previous Labour Government spent nearly £2 billion over ten years attempting to tackle childhood obesity levels. Now more than one in three British children aged 5 to 13 are in the over-weight or obese category. Yet according to the latest research, parents of over-weight children don’t even recognise that their children are too heavy to qualify as healthy. Mariella Frostrup and her guests debate the tricky issue of raising healthy children.
Should the Vetting and Barring Scheme be scrapped?
Radio Four Woman’s Hour, 1 October 2010
This week the independent social policy think-tank Civitas published an update to their 2008 report, Licensed to Hug, in which they call for the Vetting and Barring Scheme to be closed. Jenni Murray is joined by one of the Report’s authors, Jennie Bristow, and by Jan Cosgrove of Fair Play for Children.
A slap in the face to modern niceties
spiked Review of Books, September 2010
Jennie Bristow reviews Christos Tsiolkas’s controversial Booker Prize nominee, The Slap.
Motherhood, abortion and parenting culture
Abortion Review, 19 July 2010
At a recent conference, academics from the UK and USA came together to discuss new challenges to women’s autonomy.
‘Enhancing the lives of children: How far should we go?’
Abortion Review, 6 July 2010
A conference at the Royal Society of Medicine raised some interesting and important questions about how today’s society should view the role of genetic, chemical and behavioural techniques in shaping children’s health and behaviour.
How motherhood changes your views on abortion
The Times Alpha Mummy, 1 July 2010
Should women’s healthcare needs take priority over doctors’ beliefs?
Abortion Review,8 June 2010
Jennie Bristow comments on an important new report on conscience and refusal clauses.
Commentary: Extending parenting backwards
Abortion Review, 29 April 2010
Jennie Bristow explores some of the new limitations placed on women’s autonomy by a culture of ‘intensive parenting’.
Turning parents into ‘partners of the state’
spiked, 28 April 2010
ELECTION ESSAY: Thanks to New Labour, the family is no longer seen as a haven in a heartless world, but as a site of all sorts of abuse.
Is it OK to leave your baby to cry? Yes!
Sunday Herald, 28 April 2010
Commentary: Family planning should mean choice, not control
Abortion Review, 25 March 2010
Jennie Bristow reports on the ‘morally uncomfortable’ questions raised by a recent conference examining the alleged connection between population dynamics, reproductive health and rights, and climate change.
Mothers and time alone: essential - or a luxury?
Woman’s Hour, Radio 4, 22 March 2010
With the ever-increasing stresses of modern life, from rushing from work, tidying away toys, cooking dinner before unloading the fourth load of washing, many mothers crave some time to themselves - or what’s been coined as ‘me time’. Whether it’s a mini-break or spa day, a bubbly bath or simply a walk in the park, is time alone for mothers essential, or a luxury? Or should they find ways of relaxing with their children around? Jane Garvey discusses the issues with two writers who have six children between them - Lucy Cavendish and Jennie Bristow.
The great myth of me-time
The Times (London), 16 February 2010
Exhausted mothers’ quest for time out is a symptom of our exacting parenting culture. This half term we need to get the balance back into family life.
‘We’re afraid of our kids, and we’re afraid for them’
spiked, 3 February 2010
Anthony Horowitz, author of the bestselling teenage spy novels, talks to Jennie Bristow about vetting and the poisoning of adult-child relations.
Alpha Mummy blog entry on Horowitz interview, 4 February 2010
It’s not true that children never lie
spiked Review of Books, 30 December 2009
A provocative new book argues that a combination of suspicion towards adults and officialdom’s belief that children always tell the truth is creating a minefield of abuse accusations in schools.
Abortion, mental health, and the limits of science
Abortion Review, 18 December 2009
The debate about whether abortion causes depression should not be left to medical experts to resolve.
‘The drift towards professional parenting must be resisted’
Community Care, 25 November 2009
Parents need to accept full responsibility for bringing up their children, because professionals, in truth, can’t help them, argues Michael Fitzpatrick.
The Parent Trap
Kent Magazine, November 2009
When the reality TV programme Supernanny hit the nation’s screens in 2004, it quickly became one of Channel 4’s most popular shows. It concentrated on applying friendly but firm discipline to dysfunctional families, but it also symbolised a growing feeling that we had somehow, as a nation, lost the ability to control our children.
Don’t Touch! The educational story of a panic
By Heather Piper and Ian Stronach. (Routledge 2008). Review by Jennie Bristow, published in Power and Education, Volume 1, Number 2, 20092 November 2009
Parents’ Liberation Movement sound rallying cry against Supernanny state
Sunday Herald, 1 November 2009
Why pedagogy is in peril
spiked Review of Books, 30 October 2009
Frank Furedi, author of the new book Wasted: Why Education Isn’t Educating, talks to Jennie Bristow about the politicisation of education and the crisis of adult authority.
Stand up to Supernanny
The Independent, 29 October 2009
Do we need a Parents’ Liberation Movement?
By Jennifer Howze. The Times Alpha Mummy, 27 October 2009
Call me a bad parent, I’ll still let my kids eat cake
Sunday Herald, 4 October 2009
Whatever is behind the claims that children of working mums are unhealthy and that sweets turn kids into violent thugs, it’s not science.
The perils of modern parenting - whatever happened to muddling through?
Daily Telegraph, 3 October 2009
There’s a multi-million pound industry out there telling us how to be model parents. Since when did bringing up children become so complicated, asks Marianne Kavanagh.
Population, the environment, and a woman’s right to choose
Abortion Review, 3 October 2009
Fears that a growing world population will worsen the problems caused by climate change have led some to propose voluntary strategies of ‘population reduction’. How should advocates of reproductive choice respond?
Live debate: when did feminism lose the plot?
The Times Alpha Mummy, 4 August 2009
Alpha Mummy hosted an online debate asking whether feminism has become a dirty word. With Jennie Bristow, Times leader writer Antonia Senior, Antonia’s 14-year-old sister, Elishna O’Donovan, and Ed West.
At last, a serious debate on ‘social evils’
spiked Review of Books, July 2009
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has celebrated its 100th birthday not by throwing a party or patting itself on the back, but by publishing a challenging book on how individuation and therapy culture have eaten away at the social fabric.
Vetting of authors in schools - is it needed?
The Times: Alpha Mummy. 31 July 2009
Bad mother, good book
spiked Review of Books, June 2009
Ayelet Waldman’s memoir about her various ‘maternal crimes’ is sometimes eye-wateringly detailed, solipsistic and infuriating – but it is also far more enlightening than the reams of mummy lit written over the past 10 years.
One family’s tragedy, not a political indicator
Abortion Review, 2 June 2009
While mourning and commemorating the life and work of Dr George Tiller, we need to be clear about whether his murder has any wider meaning for the politics of abortion.
Abortion rates: it’s not the economy, stupid
spiked, 21 May 2009
Many thought the new UK abortion stats, released today, would show a link between the recession and rising abortion rates. They were wrong.
Trapped in ‘Cyburbia’
spiked Review of Books, April 2009
A fascinating new book argues that today’s internet culture springs from the anti-authority, anti-objectivity outlook of the 1960s counterculture, and puts the case for people escaping from their all-consuming ‘Second Lives’.
Can the government ever be Mum or Dad?
The Times: Alphamummy. 28 April 2009
Bringing Up Britain
Radio 4, 8 April 2009
Mariella Frostrup hosts a debate about parenting with families, experts and policy-makers. Does shouting at children inflicts long-term damage or is an inevitable part of busy family life? As the focus on children’s behaviour and parents’ management of it increases, are there effective alternatives to yelling at children to get them to do what you want? The panellists are psychotherapist Sue Gerhardt, Professor Stephen Scott of the National Association of Parenting Practitioners and journalist and writer Jennie Bristow.
The tyranny of emotional etiquette
spiked Review of Books, March 2009
The critique of Frank Furedi’s Therapy Culture in the current British Social Attitudes survey misunderstands the extent to which emotional conformism has gripped modern Britain.
Do “female fathers” mean the end of the road for dads?
The Times: Alphamummy. 11 March 2009
Deconstructing dads
spiked Review of Books, February 2009
Instead of lecturing fathers about ‘doing their bit’, politicians would do better to understand the messy and complex reality of contemporary parenting.
What kind of parent are you?
The Moral Maze. Radio Four, 4 February 2009.
If the report by the Children’s Society is anything to go by, the chances are you may not want to know the answer to that question. It concluded that the greatest threat to British children was their parent’s rampant individualism and aggressive pursuit of personal success. It claims that Britain has more ‘broken families’ than almost any other comparable country because of selfish parents who are not prepared to work at their relationships. And mothers who chose to go back to work are also contributing to family break-up and damaging children. Is it right? If so, what do we do about it? Jennie Bristow appeared as a witness; on the panel were Michael Buerk (Chair) Melanie Phillips; Clifford Longley; Michael Portillo; Kenan Malik.
The Monday panel
Woman’s Hour. Radio 4, 2 February 2009
Jane Garvey is joined by journalist Jennie Bristow, Evening Standard reporter Emily Hill and Dame Joan Bakewell, recently appointed as a champion of the elderly by the government. They discuss whether grandparents should be the primary caregivers when their grandchildren are placed in care, whether couples should stick to having two children, and how the culture of ‘singlehood’ is affecting us all.
Social censorship
British Journal of Photography, 10 December 2008
Fears over paedophilia have prompted new rules governing child photography, but more worrying is the social censorship that’s taking hold.
A depressingly narrow debate
Abortion Review, 5 December 2008
The ‘yes it does / no it doesn’t’ reaction to claims that abortion damages mental health distracts from the more useful and difficult questions about women’s experience.
Down’s Syndrome, live births, and statistics
Abortion Review, 26 November 2008
The claim that a more ‘caring’ Britain has led to an increase in births of babies with Down’s is just wrong. So why did it receive so much coverage?
A Case of Need
Abortion Review, 18 November 2008
What the writer Michael Crichton had to say about abortion.
‘Baby P’: don’t turn this tragedy into a policy
spiked, 13 November 2008
The haunting parallels between the cases of Baby P and Victoria Climbie should remind us what the government should not do in response.
Free fetal DNA testing: Implications for the abortion debate
Abortion Review, 6 November 2008
Jennie Bristow examines the collision of scientific advances in prenatal testing with prejudices about abortion for fetal abnormality.
Why parents should break the rules.
Times Online, 22 October 2008
There is more to a happy family life than having children who know how to cook a sea-bass.
Personal is Political.
Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, 2 September 2008.
As politicians tell us to tighten our belts during the credit crisis, and reduce our waistlines, we hear a lot about the ‘nanny state’. And with conflicting views on women’s ability to have children and hold down a job, there is increased attention on ‘work-life balance’. So does this blurring between the public and the private spheres represent a victory for that generation of feminists who argued that the personal is political? Jenni discusses this with the writers Joan Smith, Jennie Bristow and Anthony Howard.
Why we need a parents’ liberation movement.
spiked, 27 June 2008
In this new essay Jennie Bristow traces the origin of the ‘woman question’, victim feminism, and the therapeutic state.
Cherie’s memoirs ‘are not awful’ shock!
spiked, 30 May 2008
Yes, the 400-page tome is full of gynaecological goo and bimbo-style twittering about getting her hair done. Yet Speaking for Myself is also a surprisingly endearing narrative on the incoherence of New Labour.
Abortion: 24 reasons to defend 24 weeks.
spiked, 15 May 2008
A Tory MP has unveiled 20 reasons why the time limit for abortion should be lowered to 20 weeks. Here are 24 reasons why it should stay as it is.
Bringing Up Britain.
BBC Radio Four, 2 April 2008
Mariella Frostrup hosts a debate about parenting with families, experts and policy-makers. As bad parenting is blamed for the ills of society, how are we raising the next generation?
Learning how to be a good parent.
BBC News, 20 November 2007
Report on the launch of the UK government’s National Parenting Academy.
After Chick Lit, welcome to ‘baby-sick lit’.
spiked, 26 October 2007
The latest publishing craze – rapid-consumption novels about women trying to conceive – is not quite the literary cup of hot chocolate that was provided by Bridget Jones and the other zany singletons of the Chick Lit era.
Mums of the world unite.
Sunday Herald, 21 October 2007
... we have nothing to lose by resisting government attempts to treat us like idiots. By Jennie Bristow.
This is not eugenics — it is one mum’s tough decision.
spiked, 9 October 2007
The slating of a British mother for asking doctors to give her disabled daughter a hysterectomy exposes today’s deep distrust of parents.
Child obesity.
Radio Four Woman’s Hour, 19 July 2007
Consultant Paediatrician, Dr Penny Gibson and writer Jennie Bristow join Miriam to disucuss government policy for preventing child obesity. Do parents want the government to get so involved?
Scarier than Thatcher the milk snatcher.
spiked, 8 May 2007
From ‘fetal ASBOs’ to calorie-counting on the curriculum: the Blairites intervened in family life in ways the Tories never dreamed of.
Why I won’t be joining the ‘Bad Mothers Club’.
spiked, 28 December 2006
The latest literary genre celebrates stressful, even bad, motherhood as an identity.
Get the inspectors out of our nurseries.
spiked, 11 October 2006
Government regulation of childcare is making life difficult for parents, children and carers.
Down with the fertility police.
spiked, 31 August 2006
Proposals that women who are too fat, too thin or over 40 should be denied IVF are draconian attempts to define what is a ‘good parent’.
Children: over-surveilled, under-protected.
spiked, 20 July 2006
A recent conference in London highlighted the dangers of the government’s insidious monitoring of our children’s lives.
I want my epidural!
spiked, 23 May 2006
Why this heavily pregnant writer doesn’t buy the idea that natural childbirth is best.
Are we addicted to love?
spiked, 28 March 2006
Theories of intimate relationships in the modern world view passionate love as a problem to be managed.
Unmarried couples and legal rights.
BBC Radio Four Woman’s Hour, 15 March 2006
Now that gay couples have the right to register a civil partnership – conferring the same legal rights as a marriage - are unmarried couples being discriminated against under the law? To discuss, Woman’s Hour is joined by Anne Barlow, Professor of Family Law and Policy at the University of Exeter, and by Jennie Bristow, Commissioning Editor of spiked and author of Marriage and Commitment in Singleton Society.
The suspicious characters in the Department for Education.
spiked, 17 January 2006
Teacher vetting scandals are a crisis of the government’s own making.
A lesson in conformity for parents.
spiked, 10 January 2006
Forget ‘respect’: the UK government’s National Parenting Academy is based on contempt for mums and dads everywhere.
A Sure Start for the therapeutic state.
spiked, 22 September 2005
It’s official: New Labour’s scheme for deprived children does nothing for the under-fives. But then the government has always been more bothered about the parents
Parents: we are not the law.
spiked, 5 September 2005
The government’s attempts to turn parents into policemen are deeply dysfunctional.
Baby bribes.
spiked, 26 May 2004
If people don’t want children, a government grant is unlikely to change their mind.
Not in front of the parents.
spiked, 19 May 2004
The 14-year-old’s ‘secret’ abortion shows that professionals now see Mum and Dad as the problem.
Breastfeeding Awareness Week.
BBC Radio Four Woman’s Hour, 9 May 2005
Jenni Murray speaks to Belinda Phipps, the Chief Executive of the National Childbirth Trust, and Jennie Bristow, commissioning editor of the online publication spiked, about why people choose bottle feeding and whether the pressure on new mums to breastfeed is counter-productive.
Regulating reproductive technology - less is more
spiked, 31 March 2005
A UK government committee has concluded that more trust should be put in parents, doctors and scientists. And this is an ‘extreme libertarian’ position?
What future for the family?
spiked, 17 November 2004
Behind the ‘mommy wars’ and the new politics of the family.
Women: are we equal now?
And if so, so what?
spiked, 21 May 2004
Boys and emotional literacy.
BBC Radio Four Woman’s Hour, 25 February 2004
Children’s author and former teacher Pete Johnson joins Jenni Murray and journalist Jennie Bristow to discuss whether embedding emotional literacy in the curriculum can help both sexes to flourish.
Fertility symbols
spiked, 27 August 2003
The discussion about IVF funding in the UK raises broader concerns about our attitudes towards sex, pregnancy and parenthood.
Suspicious policy
spiked, 22 May 2003
Why is Downing Street so bothered about whether people trust each other?
Down with social capitalism
spiked, 6 February 2003
Social capital is a philosophy for those who have given up on changing the world. No wonder policymakers like it so much.
Playpen world.
New Statesman, 17 December 2001
Jennie Bristow on the cult of mummy lit.
Girls just wanna have fun.
New Statesman, 24 September 2001
Why do writers such as Jenny Colgan, Jane Green and Lisa Jewell invite such contempt - and such huge sales?
Chick Lit to Smith Lit
spiked, 8 March 2001
The worst thing that can happen to young female authors is that they are taken so damn seriously.
See here for a fuller archive of Jennie Bristow’s articles on spiked.
Featured articles
Babywearers of the world, unite!spiked, 24 November 2008
Why did moms who carry their babies in slings or wraps react so badly to a less-than-reverential ad? By Nancy McDermott.
Schools are not social services says teachers’ union
The Times (London), 18 November 2008
The largest teaching union has warned against schools being used as surrogate social services after Ed Balls, the Children’s Secretary, called on teachers to do more to prevent child abuse in the home.
I may be paranoid, but they are watching us
The Times (London), 24 October 2008
The State’s growing mania for gathering information is turning us into a nation of suspects and informers. By Camilla Cavendish.
How American motherhood ruined my life
The Times (London), 18 October 2008
We’ve been set impossibly high standards when it comes to raising children. What’s wrong with benign British neglect? By Janice Turner.
Just give them grit
The Sunday Times, 12 October 2008
Health and safety concerns have led to children being wrapped in cotton wool. By Rachel Johnson.
The Government wrongly considers children as obese
Daily Telegraph, 18 September 2008
Read the Daily Telegraph blog by Jane Sandeman, convenor of the Parents’ Forum.
The end of playtime?
Independent, 4 August 2008
Playtime is over for children, with up to half of youngsters banned from climbing trees, playing conkers or riding their bikes by over-protective parents who are terrified that they might get hurt.
The state-sanctioned bullying of fat kids
spiked, 30 July 2008
Why is Britain opening so many ‘fat camps’? The evidence suggests they don’t work, and only make overweight children feel isolated and ashamed. By Patrick Basham and John Luik.
Teachers: leave those kids’ emotions alone
Daily Telegraph, 29 July 2008
Jane Sandeman, convenor of the Institute of Ideas Parents’ Forum, writing on the ‘Ways and Means’ blog.
Authors unite against drive for toddler literacy
The Times (London), 24 July 2008
A powerful lobby of leading authors and educationists accuses the Government of setting children up for failure.
Baby Bust!
Reason magazine, July 2008
The world is panicking over birthrates. Again. By Kerry Howley.
Why you shouldn’t let your kids rule your life
Sunday Times (London), 29 June 2008
You’ve given up work to focus on your kids, but what about your mind? Katie Roiphe voices her concerns about modern child-centric parenting.
The high cost of invasive parenting advice
spiked, 27 June 2008
A striking new book argues that ‘invasive parenting’, ‘hyper parenting’ and even ‘death-grip parenting’ are turning out a nation of wimps. Is it true – and how did it happen? By Nancy McDermott
Gone, Baby, Gone: who’s fit to be a parent?
spiked, 12 June 2008
With echoes of recent high-profile child abductions, Ben Affleck’s crime drama poses a very modern moral dilemma. By Rob Lyons.
Emphasis on emotions is creating ‘can’t do’ students
The Times (London), 12 June 2008
Schools and universities are producing a generation of “can’t do” students, who are encouraged to talk about their emotions at the expense of exploring ideas or acquiring knowledge, academics claimed yesterday.
The Kindergarchy
The Weekly Standard, 6 June 2008
In America we are currently living in a Kindergarchy, under rule by children. By Joseph Epstein.
A government u-turn we should welcome
spiked, 5 June 2008
It was a mad idea to make businesses that employ under-16 paperboys or interns submit to vetting - thank God it’s been scrapped. By Josie Appleton.
Families struggle to afford formal childcare
The Times (London), 30 May 2008
Government study finds that Gordon Brown’s childcare strategy has failed, with families relying on family and friends.
The Great American Baby Bottle Scare
spiked, 27 May 2008
Cynical official scaremongering about a harmless plastic in baby bottles has panicked moms and dads throughout America and Canada. By Nancy McDermott.
Schools in revolt over under-5s curriculum
The Times (London), 26 May 2008
A powerful coalition of England’s leading independent schools is demanding that the Government scale back its new national curriculum for the under-fives, claiming that it violates parents’ human rights by denying them the freedom to choose how they educate their children.
High price to pay for youth’s folly
The Times (London), 19 May 2008
Images of dying young people don’t change behaviour; and leave behind an undignified memory. By Carol Sarler.
‘Paedophile scares are always driven by the elite’
spiked, 19 May 2008
As the Jersey children’s home ‘bone’ turns out to be a piece of coconut, Richard Webster tells spiked the case reveals much about moral panics. By Brendan O’Neill.
MPs must stay out of family planning
Sunday Times (London), 18 May 2008
Antediluvian lobbyists and their press allies shriek ‘hybrid’ and ‘Frankenstein’ yet nobody is planning to create monsters. By Simon Jenkins.
Bouncy castles: a dangerous ruling
The Times (London), 13 May 2008
Our society is trying desperately to outlaw the notion of an accident. But that’s wrong. By Mick Hume.
Is there a Josef Fritzl on your street?
spiked, 1 May 2008
The heinous cellar-incest crime is being turned into a metaphor for the dangers of family life. By Brendan O’Neill.
‘I’ve been labelled the world’s worst mom’
spiked, 30 April 2008
New York Sun columnist Lenore Skenazy tells spiked about the barrage of abuse she got for letting her nine-year-old ride the subway alone. By Nancy McDermott.
Pupils shun healthy diet for junk food runs
The Times (London), 28 April 2008
Students are operating a black-market trade in food banned in schools in a backlash against Jamie Oliver’s campaign.
Can we hector parents? Yes we can!
spiked, 28 April 2008
By making parental attitudes central to his vision for education, Barack Obama is blaming moms and dads for the US State’s school failures. By Nancy McDermott.
Interesting journal articles
Parental Responsibility as Therapy Helen Reece. Family Law 1167, 1 December 2009
Mothers’ experiences of bottle-feeding: a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies. R Lakshman, D Ogilvie, K K Ong. Archives of Disease in Childhood, August 2009
The Making of Modern Motherhood: Memories, Representations, Practices
Rachel Thomson and Mary Jane Kehily with Lucy Hadfield and Sue Sharpe. Open University, July 2008
Measuring mothering. Rebecca Kukla.The International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics. Vol. 1, No. 1 (Spring 2008).
‘“I Would Want to Give My Child, Like, Everything in the World”: How Issues of Motherhood Influence Women Who Have Abortions’. By Rachel K. Jones, Lori F. Frohwirth, and Ann M. Moore. Guttmacher Institute, New York. Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 29, No. 1, 79-99 (2008) January 1, 2008
The Overpraised American: Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism revisited. By Christine Rosen. Policy Review, October-November 2005
Family and Intimate Relationships: A Review of the Sociological Research. By Val Gillies, Families & Social Capital ESRC Research Group, South Bank University. 2003.
Relevant policy documents
Support for All: the Families and Relationships Green Paper
Department for Children, Schools and Families, January 2010
Families in Britain: an evidence paper
Department for Children, Schools and Families, December 2008
Kids in the Middle: An Agony Aunt’s guide for parting parents and their children
Department for Children, Schools and Families, December 2008
The Play Strategy
Department for Children, Schools and Families, December 2008
Managing Risk in Play Provision: Implementation Guide
Department for Children, Schools and Families, December 2008
The Impact of Parental Involvement on Children’s Education
Department for Children, Schools and Families, November 2008
Early Intervention: Good Parents, Great Kids, Better Citizens.
Graham Allen MP and Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP.
Centre for Social Justice and the Smith Institute, September 2008
Youth Alcohol Action Plan
Department for Children, Schools and Families; The Home Office; Department of Health. June 2008.
The Child Health Promotion Programme: Pregnancy and the first five years of life
Department of Health, April 2008
Safer Children in a Digital World: the report of the Byron Review.
Department for children, schools and families, March 2008.
The Children’s Plan
Department for children, schools and families, December 2007.
Building on progress: Families
Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, May 2007
Every Parent Matters: Helping You Help Your Child
Department for Children, Schools and Families, March 2007
The Early Years Foundation Stage
Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2007
The state of the nation report: Fractured Families
Centre for Social Justice, December 2006
Breakdown Britain: Interim report on the state of the nation
Social Justice Policy Group, December 2006
Events
Parents’ Forum conference, Easter 2011
The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Parenting under the Coalition Government: What’s changed?’ The programme is below.
Tuesday 19 April
9am-12 (Chair: Jane)
Big Society: The good, the bad, and the ugly (Beverley)
Inter-generational conflict and the problem of the ‘Baby Boomer’ (Jennie)
The Vetting and Barring Scheme review (Helen)
Readings:
Big Society: Platoons under siege. The Economist, 10 February 2011
‘Big Society’: catchphrase for an age of small politics. By Mick Hume, spiked, 16 February 2011
‘Baby boomer’. The Phrase Finder (for a definition)
The Pinch, by David Willetts. Atlantic Books, 2010
Vetting & Barring Scheme Remodelling Review – Report and Recommendations. February 2011.
12-1pm Lunch
1-4pm (Chair: Alison)
Smacking and the children’s rights agenda (Josephine)
‘Tiger Moms’ and pushy parenting (Jane)
Obesity and the politics of food (Rob)
Readings:
Should we smack our children? 4-thought TV: series of mini-films
Who’s afraid of the ‘tiger mother’? By Nancy McDermott. spiked, 28 January 2011
In China, Not All Practice Tough Love. WSJ, 8 January 2011
Amy Chua Is a Wimp, by David Brooks. New York Times, 17 January 2011
Do (strict) Chinese mums know best? Journalist Toby Young and psychologist Oliver James have their say. The Observer, Sunday 16 January 2011
4pm: Close of day
Wednesday 20 April
9.30am-12 (Chair: Ellie)
Social mobility and the ‘parenting deficit’ (Sally)
The rise and rise of ‘parenting science’ (Jan)
Readings
Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers: A Strategy for Social Mobility.HM Government, April 2011
Social mobility: Nick Clegg declares war on nepotism. BBC News Online, 5 April 2011
Early Intervention: The Next Steps. Graham Allen MP, January 2011
The Foundation Years: preventing poor children becoming poor adults. Frank Field, December 2010
Myth of the First Three Years: A New Understanding of Early Brain Development and Lifelong Learning, by John T. Bruer.
Social mobility: Labour tries to revive flagging crusade to help poor children. The Times January 14, 2009
Now Lib-Con social mobility replaces socialist equality. The Evening Standard, 16 August 2010
More mobile than we think. Prospect, 20 December 2008
Nick Clegg promises to overhaul social mobility. BBC, 18 August 2010
12-1pm Lunch
1-3.15pm (Chair: Sally)
Job done? Is a critique of education policy still needed? (Toby)
Further thoughts on parent / teacher relations (Alka)
Closing remarks (Jane)
Readings
A Defense of Subject-Based Education, IoI Education Forum
Education forum podcast: Why isn’t education educating?
3.15pm: Close of conference, followed by children’s tea party
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Standing up to Supernanny: parents in the spotlight
A discussion presented by the Institute of Ideas in association with ESRC festival of social science at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2010.
2pm, Sunday 21 March
Blue Boar Lecture Theatre, Christ Church, University of Oxford
Buy tickets here, or phone Festival Box Office on 0870 343 1001.
In the build up to the election, all the mainstream parties are keen to make their policies on the family distinct. However, what they all agree on is that parenthood requires a massive adjustment to our lives, emotions, and relationships, and we have to be taught how to deal with that by experts. But can it really be so difficult that parents need constant counselling, parenting classes and policies backed by swathes of academic research, to rear their own children? Are today’s parents really so hopeless they need supernannies’ assistance to cope? Might the current focus on hapless parents increase their insecurity and diminish parental authority over their own children?
Speakers:
Jennie Bristow: author, Standing up to Supernanny; editor, Parents With Attitude
Dr Val Gillies: Reader, Families & Social Capital Research Group, London South Bank University; author of Marginalised Mothers: Exploring Working Class Experiences of Parenting
Christina Hardyment: author, Dream Babies: Babycare Advice from John Locke to Gina Ford
Jennifer Howze: Online Lifestyle Editor, The Times; lead blogger, Alpha Mummy (Times Online‘s parenting blog)
—————————————————————————————
Parents’ Forum conference, Easter 2010
The programme is below.
Saturday 10 April
7pm: Welcome, in the bar area (Beverley)
Sunday 11 April: Intimacy, privacy and the family
10 - 11.15am: What’s changed about the family? Jennie (Chair: Jane)
Why we need a parents’ liberation movement, by Jennie Bristow. spiked, 27 June 2008
11.15am - 12: The couple relationship and parenting practices Charlotte (Chair: Jane)
‘Reviewing Intimacy’, by Jacqui Gabb. Working Paper for the ‘Researching Families’ project. (2006) [.pdf]
12 - 1.30pm: Lunch
1.30pm - 2.30pm: Young mothers and the expansion of the teenage pregnancy ‘problem’ Jan (Chair: Ellie)
Monday 12 April: Education and the crisis of adult authority
9.45am-11am: The crisis of teachers’ authority Toby and Michele (Chair: Claire)
Knowledge must come first, then teaching, by Michele Ledda. Daily Telegraph, 19 January 2010
TLRP’s evidence-informed pedagogic principles. Teaching and Learning Research Programme
11am-12: Trust and the parent-teacher relationship Alka (Chair: Sally)
Wasted: Why Education Isn’t Educating, by Frank Furedi. Continuum 2009.
12-1.30pm: Lunch
1.30-2.15pm: Social exclusion and play policy Joanna and Jim (Chair: Beverley)
The political construction of social inclusion, by Joanna Williams [.doc]
2.15pm - 3pm: Parental authority and discipline Helen (Chair: Beverley)
Is it legitimate for society to sanction a particular parenting model? What accounts for the increasing hegemony of the positive parenting model? What assumptions underlie the current social approach to smacking? To what extent are the findings of social science research into the effects of parenting style on child development meaningful?
Chapter 8 in Paranoid Parenting: Why Ignoring the Experts May be Best for Your Child, by Frank Furedi. A Cappella Books, 2002
Beyond ‘anti-smacking’, by Phillips and Alderson IJCR 2003 [.pdf]
Effects of Authoritative Parental Control on Child Behavior, by Diana Baumrind Child Development 1966
Corporal Punishment, by David Benatar. Originally published in Social Theory & Practice
Encouraging better behaviour: A practical guide to positive parenting. [.pdf] NSPCC
Tuesday 13 April: Parenting politics and policy
9.45-11am: The Early Years focus Josephine; The development of family policy Ellie (Chair: Alison)
Support for All: the Families and Relationships Green Paper. Department for Children, Schools and Families, January 2010
Conservative Party Draft Families Manifesto, January 2010
Ten years of family policy: 1999-2009 [.pdf] By Claire James. Family and Parenting Institute, October 2009
A timeline of events marking parenting policy Family and Parenting Institute
11am-12: The General Election and the Parents’ Forum: future discussions and events Jane (Chair: Sally)
12-12.15pm: CONFERENCE CLOSE Beverley
Additional readings: Intimacy, privacy and the family
Standing Up To Supernanny, by Jennie Bristow. Imprint Academic 2009
Women in the workforce: Female power. The Economist , 30 December 2009
Reinventing the Family: In Search of Lifestyles, by Elisabeth Beck Gernsheim. Polity Press 2002
Women and the Common Life: Love, Marriage and Feminism, by Christopher Lasch. WW Norton & Co 1998
Dodds, A. (2009). Families “at risk” and the Family Nurse Partnership: the intrusion of risk into social exclusion policy, Journal of Social Policy, 38: 3.
Duncan, S. (2007). What’s the problem with teenage parents? And what’s the problem with policy? Critical Social Policy, Vol. 27, No. 3, 307-334.
Edwards, R. and Gillies, V (2004). Support in Parenting: Values and consensus concerning who to turn to. Journal of Social Policy, 33:4: 627-647.
Arai, L. (2005). Peer and neighbourhood influences on teenage pregnancy and fertility: qualitative findings from research in English communities. Health and Place Vol.13 (1): 87-98.
Arai, L (2003a). British policy on teenage pregnancy and childbearing: the limitations of comparisons with other European countries. Critical Social Policy, Vol. 23, No. 1, 89-102 (2003)
Bullen E., Kenway J. and Hay V. (2000). New Labour, Social Exclusion and Educational Risk Management: the case of ‘gymslip mums’. British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 26, No.4.
Carabine, Jean (2007). New Labour’s teenage pregnancy policy: constituting knowing responsible citizens? Cultural Studies, 21(6), pp. 952–973.
Additional readings: Education and the crisis of adult authority
Tories promise to make teaching ‘brazenly elitist’. BBC News Online, 18 January 2010
Don’t judge teachers by their degrees. Guardian, 18 January 2010
Professional Trust, by Ian Frowe. British Journal of Educational Studies, vol. 53, no.1, March 2005, pp 34-53
Education: The Engagement and its Frustration in The Voice of Liberal Learning, by Michael Oakeshott.
Additional readings: Parenting politics and policy
The Character Inquiry. Demos, January 2010
Building Character [.pdf] By Jen Lexmond and Richard Reeves. Demos, November 2009.
Breakdown Britain Centre for Social Justice 14 December 2006
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Battle of Ideas 2009
31 October & 1 November, London
The Battle of Ideas 2009 will be a two-day festival of high-level, thought-provoking debate organised by the Institute of Ideas and hosted by the Royal College of Art.
See here for information about the event and to buy tickets.
Parents With Attitude readers might be particularly interested in the following sessions:
Frankenstein’s Daughters: from science fiction to science fact?
Saturday 31 October, 10.30am until 12.00pm
Whose Right to Choose? Choice, ethics and regulation in 21st-century reproduction
Saturday 31 October, 1.30pm until 3.00pm
Three’s a crowd? The battle over population and reproduction
Saturday 31 October, 3.30pm until 5.00pm
We don’t need no Sex Education
Sunday 1 November, 10.45am until 12.15pm
Policing the Playground: do anti-bullying campaigns do more harm than good?
Sunday 1 November, 1.45pm until 3.15pm
Standing up to Supernanny: why we need a Parents’ Liberation Movement
Sunday 1 November, 3.45pm until 5.15pm
Sporty kids and pushy parents
Sunday 1 November, 5.30pm until 6.30pm
Books worth reading
Paranoid Parenting: Why Ignoring the Experts May Be Best for Your Child, by Frank Furedi.
New Edition: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd, October 2008
Don’t Touch!: The Educational Story of a Panic, by Heather Piper and Ian Stronach.
Routledge 2008
Dream Babies: Childcare advice from John Locke to Gina Ford, by Christina Hardyment
Frances Lincoln Publishers 2007
Mass Hysteria: Medicine, Culture, and Mothers’ Bodies, by Rebecca Kukla
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005
No Two Alike: Human Nature and Human Individuality, by Judith Rich Harris.
W. W. Norton and Co., 2007
Perfect Madness, Motherhood in the age of Anxiety, by Judith Warner.
London: Vermilion, 2006
Reports and pamphlets
Sinking and Swimming: Understanding Britain’s Unmet Needs
The Young Foundation, December 2009
Building Character
By Jen Lexmond and Richard Reeves. Demos, November 2009.
Ten years of family policy: 1999-2009
By Claire James. Family and Parenting Institute, October 2009
A timeline of events marking parenting policy
Family and Parenting Institute
Database State - a comprehensive map of UK government databases
Full report (PDF, 879KB)
Executive Summary (PDF, 260KB)
By Ross Anderson, Ian Brown, Terri Dowty, Philip Inglesant, William Heath, Angela Sasse. Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, March 2009
The Good Childhood Inquiry.
The Children’s Society, 2009
The Evolution of the Family in Europe 2008.
Institute for Family Policy, May 2008
This survey of life in the 27 European Union countries claims to chart the collapse of family life, with one marital breakdown and one abortion in Europe almost every 30 seconds.
No Fear: Growing up in a risk averse society
By Tim Gill. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 2007
Child poverty in perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries
Unicef 2007
The shopping generation
By Ed Mayo. National Consumer Council, July 2005
Links
Blogs
Times Alphamummy Blog
Mainstream Parenting Resources
Free Range Kids
Bad Mothers’ Club
Social networking sites
Mumsnet
Netmums
Campaign sites
Manifesto Club Campaign Against Vetting
Campaign for Adventure
about us
Parents With Attitude is a website for parents who want to engage in an adult debate about the issues affecting their lives, and the world that they live in. Join in the debte on the Parents’ Forum blog.
Parents With Attitudet is edited by the journalist Jennie Bristow, author of the spiked Guide to Subversive Parenting and a mother of two preschoolers. Bristow is author of Standing Up To Supernanny (Societas 2009) and co-author of Licensed to Hug (Civitas 2008).
contact us
If you spot any particularly good (or bad) parenting-related news stories, please send them to us to add to the blog. Contact:
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If you would like to discuss any of the issues you see on the website, join our online Parents’ Forum.
parents’ forum
This discussion forum is inspired by the work of the Institute of Ideas Parents’ Forum, a group of feisty mums and dads who regularly meet in London to discuss, not potty training or weaning techniques, but developments in parenting policy and the latest media panics.
Join the debate on the new parents’ forum blog here.
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