Communities That Care (CTC) announced this week that Parenting Wisely will soon be available for parents of 11 to 18 year-olds. The curriculum, which uses video game technology, is suitable for parents and any other caregivers hoping to develop more effective parenting skills.
"Parenting Wisely has been thoroughly researched in a number of settings, and has proven to be very effective at helping parents meet the challenges of raising their children," states a CTC news release.
The program helps to strengthen family communication, increase parental supervision skills, improve discipline and lower children's risk of developing health and behaviour problems. Parents can use the program with older children to practice the skills and home activities together.
"It's an excellent tool for parents whose schedules do not allow them to attend some of the other parenting programs in the community. And it is easy to do in short time allotments."
The program is self-paced and takes an average of three hours to complete. It's being offered in partnership with Mamquam Elementary School and School District 48, and the school has set up a workstation in the library so users can complete the modules without sharing their responses.
Organizers recommend parents participate when their children are in Grades 6 to 9, before the transition into the later teen years. Call Ian Kent at Mamquam Elementary at 898-3601 to book an appointment to use the program.In 2008 Communities That Care also plans to introduce the Strengthening Families Program for ages 10 to 14 and 6 to12 for Punjabi speaking families.
"We will be looking for Punjabi speaking community members who are interested in being trained as group leaders for this program," states a news release.
Based on the research and the organization's community assessment report, supporting families in the development of strong family management skills is one of the most effective ways to prevent youth problem behaviours from developing. As a result, one of the organization's goals is to blanket the community in prevention programs that all families can access conveniently. "Thanks to generous community support, we are able to offer these programs free of charge."
For more information, go to www.ctcsquamish.com or call (604) 892-5796.
Communities That Care Squamish is a mobilization project aimed at preventing six youth health and behaviour problems (teen pregnancy, substance abuse, violence, delinquency, school drop out and depression/anxiety). Since 1998, CTC has worked with a broad group of community stakeholders to assess the levels of risk and protection in the community. Based on the community's needs and efforts, the Strengthening Families Program is now in its tenth cycle and the High/Scope educational approach is now operating at three local preschools.
