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Healthy Families: A Brighter Future for Our Children is the theme of this year’s Child Month, which is celebrated annually during the month of May.
According to Director of the Child Care Board (CCB), Joan Crawford, the theme is "a continuation of… efforts to encourage families to take their rightful position in shaping the lives of the nation’s children."
Ms. Crawford explained that during the month there will be a national focus on children and the issues which impact their development.
The Director stated that Child Month would also be used to focus attention on the family "as the primary stabilising force and socialising institution within the nation for the development of children".?? She added that the CCB strongly believed that the family was the most appropriate environment for raising children."
Alluding to the subject of healthy families, she pointed out that a holistic approach would be taken, and attention paid to examining some of the factors which impact on an individual’s physical, social, psychological and emotional well-being, as well as their creativity and productivity.
"Healthy families protect their children from harm and disease. For example, they ensure that strategies are in place for adequate supervision and that children are provided with nutritious meals and attend medical appointments when needed. Healthy families employ preventative strategies that minimise ill health.
"Healthy families provide for their children, and last but not least, healthy families promote opportunities to develop positive live skills and values that build the self-esteem of their children," the Child Care Board head affirmed.
She added that education was necessary in order to achieve the status of a "healthy family", and implored individuals to "understand that it is a process…Life is not static, therefore… all parties need to adjust to challenges and changes as they arise."
Activities for Child Month will get under way this Friday, May 10, with a National Children’s Service, which will focus on the theme Let’s Celebrate Our Children.