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There was an interesting debate this week on ´óÏó´«Ã½ News entitled 'Parenting expert: Pushy parents should 'chill out’.ÌýThe debate featured Dr Bryan Caplan who feels that parents should take a more relaxed approach. His premise is that children’s behaviour is dictated more by their latent inherited characteristics rather than nurture. According to Dr Caplan there is no point in beating yourself up about being too relaxed with your kids or not laying down the law enough, as they will be fine anyway.

Many mums and dads feel under so much pressure to be perfect parents that they hide behind a veneer, for fear of criticism and failure, one report states. As demands on parents increase, they feel they are being stretched too thinly. Fitting in the homework is hard enough but what about taking them swimming once a week?

Recent research has found that the . ÌýIn order to help bridge the socio-economic gap, helping families at a time of transition in their education, for example from primary to secondary school, can make a significant difference.

However, in my opinion, research in this field only tells half the story and ‘good parenting’ is not easy to assess. Perhaps parents themselves are their own worst enemies?

Fiona Holmer works on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Parents Blog.

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