Schools play an important role in their intellectual, social and emotional development. Schools help preparing children and youth to become competent and responsible adults. Youth who fail to graduate from high school are almost twice as likely to remain unemployed for long periods. It is beyond the scope of this guide to capture the full scope of the contributions school experiences make to the healthy development of children and youth. However a selection of strategies that schools can use to influence the healthy development of children and youth have been included.
Schools obviously have no direct relationship with infants during the first year of life.
However, they can play a role in preparing parents. The Carnegie Task Force on meeting the needs of young children, recommends that schools deliver a comprehensive human biology and family life education curriculum. This would provide all young people with some knowledge of child development and be an opportunity for them to explore the attitudes and behaviours that are the foundation of responsible parenthood. The chart below lists factors that influence children's healthy development in the first year of their lives. The headings of each column indicate a positive outcome we would like children to achieve.