The vast majority of parents want to do the best for their children, but it is not always easy.
Sometimes, parents have had a bad experience of parenting themselves; sometimes, they are struggling with other pressures such as poverty; sometimes, they just need extra support.
Whatever the issue, NSPCC Scotland has an impressive record of helping children. More and more, the aim is to prevent abuse and neglect happening in the first place.
Today, The Herald launches its Christmas appeal in support of this important work. The campaign will raise money for the NSPCC, but it will also raise awareness of the charity's work. There is the Childline helpline, for instance, which receives thousands of calls every year. NSPCC Scotland also works in maternity wards, and offers advice to parents on how to avoid the new risks for children online.
With the support of our readers, The Herald campaign will help fund these services. The scale of the challenge is clear - last year more than 2,600 young people were placed on child protection registers - but the potential of NSPCC Scotland's mission statement is also undeniable: every childhood is worth fighting for.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
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