More than half of all parents surveyed in the "Family and Childhood Education in Turkey" study displayed signs that they do not effectively communicate with their children nor instill in them a high level of self-confidence. Conducted by the Children and Children's Rights Protection Platform, the study surveyed 1,237 participants over the age of 15. According to the results, about 42 percent of all parents practice poor child-rearing habits. "A parent generally consults his or her spouse when having difficulty communicating with a child," said Fulya Durmuş, the head of GFK Research Services. Of all the participants, 20 percent were familiar with the Convention on the Rights of Children. The study found that 66 percent of participants need more parental education so that they can better raise their children. Professor Fatoş Erkman, head of the Boğaziçi University's education sciences department, said that high stress levels in our lives are not conducive to raising our children properly. Pedagogue Şima Sunder also said that all children have the right to live in a safe, peaceful and healthy society. "Education begins with the family," she added. Zeynep Çatay Çalışkan, an assistant professor at Istanbul Bilgi University's psychology department, also pointed out the difficulties encountered by parents. She said that parents feel perplexed because everything in our lives is changing very quickly. "It is hard to live in a big city. Parents want to raise their children so that they can stand on their own feet," she concluded.
