Parents who want to strengthen their skills will have an opportunity to do so under the National Peace Program’s Parent-Wise Community Project.
And, a number of parenting sessions will be held, to which parents are encouraged to attend. These sessions are being facilitated by the five civil society organisations partnering on this project – PAREDOS, Ammar Empowerment Network, the Barbados Association for Professional Social Workers, the Caribbean Institute for Social and Emotional Learning, and the Men’s Empowerment Network.
There will be workshops by Ammar Empowerment Network on Saturday, June 22, at Hillaby Church of the Nazarene, St. Andrew; and Saturday, June 29, at Chalky Mount Wesleyan Holiness Church, St. Andrew. Both meetings will begin at 4:00 p.m. and last for two hours.
The Barbados Association for Professional Social Workers will also hold sessions on those dates – June 22 and 29 – at the Welfare Department, Weymouth Corporate Centre, Roebuck Street, St. Michael, from 10:00 a.m. to noon.
The Caribbean Institute for Social and Emotional Learning’s meeting will be on Tuesday, June 25, at Western Light Nazarene Church, Oxnards, St. James, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. PAREDOS will host theirs on Wednesday, June 26, at the Glebe Resource Centre, St. George, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The Men’s Empowerment Network will have their sessions virtually, via their podcast, this month. The dates and times will be announced soon.
NPP has highlighted parenting as an important pillar that must be tackled, as poor or absent parenting has been identified as a fundamental factor for at-risk or vulnerable children.
The Parent-Wise Community Project has been developed to equip parents with the knowledge and skills to adequately provide for their children physically, mentally, and emotionally. The five civil society organisations are equipped with the necessary technical resources to execute and monitor community programmes across the island, and are addressing different stages of the parenting process, from prenatal to adulthood.
Some of the topics being addressed by the organisations are Managing Adolescents’ Mental Health; Parenting in the Digital Era; Co-Parenting Strategies; Single Parent Strategies; Recognising the Sick Child; 10 Tips for Effective Parenting; Resolving Conflict Successfully; Building Up Your Children’s Self-Esteem & Self-Confidence; Emotional Intelligence in the Household; and Recognising and Understanding Emotions.
For more information on the project, members of the public should contact the NPP’s Assistant Director with responsibility for Rehabilitation and Therapy, Nicolette Williams, at 241-0326, or nwilliams@oag.gov.bb. The year-long Parent-Wise Community Project will be carried out in 11 parishes by each organisation.