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My Parent is in Prison Social Story

Support a conversation about a parent’s imprisonment with a first-person social story. The pages acknowledge difficult feelings and reassure children that the situation is not their fault.
Grades
Not Grade Specific
Pages
61
File type
PDF
Preparation
Print ready

Updated Sep 27, 2026

Subject
Special Education Needs (SEN), Social Skills, Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Topic
Parent in prison, Family change
Resource types
Activities
Preparation
Print ready

Product description

From the author

My Parent is in Prison Social Story uses illustrated, first-person sentences to discuss a parent’s imprisonment, difficult feelings and possible ways to stay connected. It reassures the child that the situation is not their fault.

Four fifteen-page stories provide dad and mom/mum versions in American and British spelling, plus a separate credit page. Choose a version with the caregiver and adapt discussion to the child’s circumstances. Pages can be laminated and bound for repeated individual or small-group reading.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Name feelings raised by the story, including anger and sadness.

  • Discuss the story’s reassurance that the imprisonment is not the child’s fault.

  • Identify a trusted adult to approach about unkind comments.

Teaching tips

  • Choose the parent and spelling version with the caregiver before reading.

  • Review the story’s explanations and contact statements against the child’s circumstances; do not promise visits or phone calls.

  • Pause to let the child name feelings and ask questions.

Skills covered

  • Emotional literacy — the story names anger and sadness in first person and explicitly validates them ('This is OK').

  • Coping strategies — the child discusses possible ways to stay connected, such as calls, letters, drawings or visits, when these are available and appropriate to the family’s circumstances.

  • Helping at home — the story models contributing chores while the remaining parent is busier than normal.

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Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

  • Parental incarceration

  • Social story

  • Feelings and coping

  • Family change

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