Public Attitudes To Parenting
The public believe that better parenting is key to reducing crime and anti-social behaviour in Britain according to a new poll by the Ipsos Social Research Institute. A failure to bring up children properly is felt the main cause of anti-social behaviour today and the public are keen for steps to be taken. The large majority believe that parents should be held responsible for the bad behaviour of their children and be made to take help if their child is involved in anti-social behaviour. Two-thirds of parents say they would personally find help from outside their friends and family useful in dealing with difficult or troublesome behaviour of their children.
- Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 2,048 adults (aged 16 and over) across Great Britain.
- Interviews were conducted face-to-face in respondents homes using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing) between 26-30 October 2006.
- At the analysis stage, the data were weighted to the profile of all adults aged 16+. The data are weighted using rim weights for sex, age, social grade, standard region, housing tenure and working status.
- Where figures do not sum to 100 percent, this may be due to computer rounding, multiple codes or the exclusion of 'don't know / not stated' response categories.
- An asterisk (*) represents a value of less than one half percent, but not zero.
- Results are based on all unless otherwise stated.
Q1 Which two or three of these do you think would do most to reduce crime in Britain?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Better parenting | 55 |
| More police on the beat | 48 |
| Better discipline in schools | 48 |
| More constructive activities for young people | 42 |
| More effective programmes to change behaviour | 27 |
| Capital punishment for murder | 23 |
| Introducing a national identity card | 13 |
| More offenders in prison | 11 |
| Other | 3 |
| None of these | 1 |
| Don't know | * |
Q2 Which one or two of these do you think are the main causes of anti-social behaviour today?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Parents not bringing up their children appropriately | 53 |
| Drug and alcohol abuse | 49 |
| Lack of discipline in schools | 28 |
| Not enough for teenagers to do | 27 |
| Peer pressure | 16 |
| The break-up of marriages | 14 |
| Other | 1 |
| Don't know | 1 |
Q3 What would you consider to be an appropriate bedtime for a 10 year old child on a school night / at weekends?
| Q3a School Night | Q3b Weekend | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Before 7 o'clock | 1 | 1 |
| 7.00 - 7.29 | 3 | * |
| 7.30 - 7.59 | 8 | 1 |
| 8.00 - 8.29 | 27 | 5 |
| 8.30 - 8.59 | 23 | 11 |
| 9.00 - 9.29 | 30 | 27 |
| 9.30 - 9.59 | 5 | 19 |
| 10.00 - 10.29 | 2 | 25 |
| 10.30 - 10.59 | 1 | 6 |
| 11.00 - 11.29 | 0 | 3 |
| 11.30 - 11.59 | * | * |
| Midnight or later | 0 | * |
| Whenever, child old enough to decide | * | 1 |
| Depends on the child | * | 1 |
| Don't know | 1 | 1 |
Q4a What would you consider to be an appropriate time for a 10 year old to be indoors and off the streets on a school night / at weekends?
| Q4a School Night | Q4b Weekend | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Before 6 o'clock | 19 | 15 |
| 6.00 - 6.29 | 16 | 12 |
| 6.30 - 6.59 | 12 | 10 |
| 7.00 - 7.29 | 21 | 18 |
| 7.30 - 7.59 | 9 | 9 |
| 8.00 - 8.29 | 15 | 16 |
| 8.30 - 8.59 | 3 | 6 |
| 9.00 - 9.29 | 2 | 8 |
| 9.30 - 9.59 | * | 1 |
| 10.00 - 10.29 | * | 2 |
| 10.30 - 10.59 | * | * |
| 11.00 - 11.29 | 0 | * |
| 11.30 - 11.59 | * | * |
| Midnight or later | 0 | 0 |
| Whenever, child old enough to decide | * | * |
| Depends on the child | 1 | 1 |
| Don't know | 2 | 2 |
Q5 To what extent do you support or oppose the police and other authorities taking children under 16 home after 9pm if they are involved in anti-social behaviour?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Strongly support | 80 |
| Tend to support | 15 |
| Neither support nor oppose | 3 |
| Tend to oppose | 1 |
| Strongly oppose | 1 |
| Don't know | 1 |
Q6 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements:
- Parents should be held responsible for the bad behaviour of their children?
- Parents of children who are involved in anti-social behaviour should be made to take help?
| Q6a held responsible | Q6b made to take help | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Strongly agree | 49 | 41 |
| Tend to agree | 33 | 42 |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 11 | 11 |
| Tend to disagree | 6 | 5 |
| Strongly disagree | 2 | 1 |
| Don't know | * | 1 |
Q7 Where would you go for help with managing and dealing with difficult or troublesome behaviour of your child?Base: All those with children aged up to 18 (686)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Friends and family | 29 |
| School | 21 |
| Social Services | 15 |
| G.P | 11 |
| Police | 9 |
| Health visitor | 8 |
| Other parents | 5 |
| Helpline | 2 |
| Charity | 1 |
| Church | 1 |
| Other | 9 |
| Not applicable -- child(ren) not difficult / troublesome | 14 |
| Don't know | 14 |
Q8 How useful would you find help from outside your friends and family in dealing with difficult or troublesome behaviour of your child(ren)?Base: All those with children aged up to 18 (686)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Very useful | 27 |
| Fairly useful | 40 |
| Not very useful | 8 |
| Not at all useful | 4 |
| Not applicable -- child(ren) not difficult / troublesome | 15 |
| Don't know/can't say | 7 |
