(December 6, 2012)

Students create parenting guide for future selves

SHREVEPORT, LA — What happens when 20 college students with no parenting experience give parenting advice? They produce a book! Students in Centenary professor Jon Westfall's Learning and Memory class are published authors thanks to their thirty-three page book, My Future Parenting Manual: Advice from Childless Me, now available on Amazon.

"This exercise allowed students to apply information we had studied in a real-world context, while at the same time having the enjoyment of seeing their work in a tangible form—something they could look at in years to come," said Westfall. "I was surprised how diverse the submissions were and how the students reacted when they saw the book—they were not expecting a perfect-bound book with an ISBN number!"

The self-published book features handwritten notes and illustrations from twenty students offering advice to parents. Their responses stem from their own experience, opinions, and what they learned in their Learning and Memory class.

Senior and psychology major Amanda Holt felt the experience of creating the parenting guide allowed her to apply what she learned in the classroom to real-world situations.

"The most interesting thing I learned was how different everyone's parenting style seems to be," said Holt. "I think this book will definitely be one of those things that I might look back at and laugh because I imagine things change when you have an actual child standing in front of you."

My Future Parenting Manual: Advice from Childless Me is available on Amazon for $5.99. The purchase price will fund future student projects.