Parenting – It's a life: Where and how youth learn about establishing paternity, child support, and co-parenting

Theory and research suggest the importance of establishing paternity, co-parenting, and child support for positive child and youth development. However, youth's relative knowledge of these topics is not well understood. Thus we examine these in the context of other parenting issues and how this information varied by parents, school/teachers, friends, and social media. We also sought to provide preliminary data on parenting programming to determine if the programming was associated with perceived increases in knowledge about these and other parenting topics. Data from 1713 students in middle and high schools who attended one or more Parenting: It's a Life modules in their school were available for analysis. Youth reported existing knowledge on establishing paternity, co-parenting, and child support relatively low compared to other topics such as peer pressure and healthy relationships. Among the four sources of information surveyed, youth received the most information from parents and caregivers and the least amount of information from social media. Youth reported significant increases in knowledge regarding parenting topics following exposure to Parenting: It's a Life curriculum. The information youth receive on content such as establishing paternity, co-parenting, and child support is relatively low. School-based parenting programs focused on these topics may help educate youth about these important parenting topics before parenthood.