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LESSON OBJECTIVE: To understand the responsibilities of parents and carers (DDS) - duty of care - discipline - setting limits
SUCCESS CRITERIA: To be able to discuss how the responsibilities of parents and carers contribute to building a positive relationship with the dependant.
Recap: last lesson we reviewed : The impact of legal rights on the wellbeing of parents, carers, and dependants - the rights to health and medical decisions. - the right to education and schooling, - the right to financial support
RESPONSIBILITIES of PARENTS/CARERS
When a person has such an influence over another, such as parent or carer, there are responsibilities they must fulfil. These will align to meeting the rights of the dependant in their care.
A duty of care is a legal obligation to maintain the health and welfare of any dependant within your care. This applies to all paid carers, formal and informal.
Setting limits is the setting of rules which are designed to keep the dependant healthy and safe. Setting limits is aimed at maintaining the health and welfare of dependants; however, if by chance rules are broken or boundaries are pushed, a parent or carer has the responsibility to deter this behaviour from happening again by administering a consequence for the action. This is called disciplining. Parents and carers must ensure that discipline and subsequent actions are appropriate and are not physical. Watch the smacking debate and discuss
ACTIVITIES:
Brainstorm parent and carer responsibilities in your workbook using the doc below
View Life at home and list some responsibilities of the carer.
Summarise key points around the responsibilities of parents and carers. Be sure to include laws that protect children in care.
Duty of Care : Parents and carers have a duty of care to their dependents, which means they have a moral or legal obligation to establish and maintain the wellbeing and safety of the people they look after. Essentially they have two legal roles. They are a Guardian, responsible for the long-term wellbeing of their dependents, as well as a custodian, supervising and assisting with the day-to-care of their dependents.
To ensure that parents and carers fulfil these roles, children and dependents in Australia are protected by legislation, which aims to reduce occurrences of abuse or neglect in the home. In NSW, the legal obligations of parents to their children are covered in the following laws:
Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Regulation 2000
Parents also have a duty of care to provide their children with adequate education. As outlined in the Education Act 1990 (NSW) parents have a responsibility to ensure their children attend a government or non-government school, or, alternatively are officially registered for homeschooling. The duty of care for children and dependents may be shared or temporarily transferred whenever they are in the care of another individual or organisation. For example, schools and teachers have a duty of care to their students and doctors have a duty of care to their patients.
Discipline: Parents and care providers have the right to provide guidance and set firm boundaries for their dependents. It is important to remember that reinforcing positive behaviour if far more effective than allocating punishment for negative transgressions. Dependents benefit from limitations, which help them understand:
What is expected of them
Fair treatment
Respect for others
Self-identity
Setting Limits: Setting limits requires parents and carers to establish clear, simple rules and employ disciplinary practices that are both fair and appropriate. Children, in particular, respond positively to family environments where they can learn, by modelling the healthy behaviours of their parents, how to manage, and de-escalate, conflict and other stressful incidents. It is important that discipline does not equate to physical punishment; discipline simply refers to a training system used to reinforce a set of rules or a code of behaviours. In this instance, parents and carers can use disciplinary practices to develop appropriate behaviours and attitudes.
When establishing household rules, parents and care providers should:
Keep it simple and short; too many rules will be confusing
Prioritise; focus on the most important rules
Discuss; explain the importance of each rule Involve everyone; invite dependents to debate limitations and consequences
Praise dependents; positively reinforce good behaviours
Enforce consequences; rule-breaking should be dealt with calmly and consistently
Be flexible; as dependents age and circumstances evolve the rules will need to change
In your book: For the responsibilites of parents and carers (DDS) identify examples for each and how it builds positive relationships and the effect on wellbeing.
Class Activity
Use the cards to place it in the appropriate category relating to Duty of Care, Setting limits and Discipline. Outline the responsibility in more detail in the table.
Use the cards and identify how the responsibility can contribute to building a positive relationship with the dependant. One example has been done for you below.
Exam Prep questions:
Examine the impact of education and schooling on the wellbeing of the child (6)
Analyse the responsibilities of parents and carers (7)
Discuss how responsibilities of carers contribute to building a positive relationship with the dependant (8)
Past HSC Questions
“Discuss how the responsibilities of a parent affect their relationship with their dependent(s).” (6) 2022
“Explain how government and community organisations can assist parents in fulfilling their parental responsibilities (5) 2019
Explain how formal support services can assist first - time parents to fulfil their responsibilities (5) 2017
How can carers fulfil their responsibilities in a way that builds a positive relationship with their dependants (6) 2016
How can the wellbeing of social parents be affected by the responsibility of making health and medical decisions for a dependant? (8) 2024
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