I do a lot of work with the Dyslexia Institute because for people with dyslexia who do not have parental support it is a huge disadvantage. I was fortunate because my Mum was a teacher and she taught me to work hard.

We know the parental support community support makes a difference. It's not just the metrics of testing and putting pressure on the schools and on the teachers.

Relationships are so much a rerun of our parental relationships. We're rerunning the relationship they were in together and we're rerunning the relationship we had with them with our lover.

In response to our fast-food culture a 'slow food' movement appeared. Out of hurried parenthood a move toward slow parenting could be growing. With vital government supports for state-of-the-art public child care and paid parental leave maybe we would be ready to try slow love and marriage.

If you feel your school is failing you the question is why. Is it a lack of parental involvement large classes school violence poor learning environment? Are there any standards to determine where problems are? Are there tutoring or mentoring programs? If the school is still failing after 3 years then what are your options?

I think I started learning lessons about being a good person long before I ever knew what basketball was. And that starts in the home it starts with the parental influence.

When fast food is not a treat but a dietary staple the children surf the internet all day in dark corners of the room and are bombarded with latest gadgets. Things replace parental standards.

When families are strong and stable so are children - showing higher levels of wellbeing and more positive outcomes. But when things go wrong - either through family breakdown or a damaged parental relationship - the impact on a child's later life can be devastating.

Although we have in theory abolished human slavery recognized women's rights and stopped child labor we continue to enslave other species who if we simply pay attention show quite clearly that they experience parental love pain and the desire for freedom just as we do.

You do need parental guidance and I was in a great position with both my mum and dad. They split when I was a baby but even though I stayed with my mom they were both very much involved in my upbringing.

Childhood obesity is best tackled at home through improved parental involvement increased physical exercise better diet and restraint from eating.