PREVENTING PROBLEMS BEFORE THEY START
Some family tips from
ParentsCare
Putting Parents And Children First
Through Family
Enrichment Programs
“Coming together is a beginning,
keeping together is progress, working together is success.”
Poor family
management skills lie at the heart of the breakdown in the family and in
child/parent relationships. These
breakdowns in the family system can lead to problems and dis-connections within
the family in within the community.
Problems such as chronic despair and stress, child abuse and neglect,
drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, teenage pregnancy, mental illness, school
failure, crime and violence and teen suicide.
Poor family management
skills translate into:
*the inability to recognize and
cope with a child’s development stages
*potential for abuse and neglect
*poor communication among family
members
*children and adults unable to
recognize their full potential
*lack of respect for each other
*lack of interest in the child’s
education
*inability to effectively solve
problems
*lack of knowledge
*lost hope and motivation
Regardless of how one
defines family, the family is the basic institution through which children
learn who they are, how to behave, where they fit in society and what kinds of
futures they are likely to experience. Within
the basic family unit
many family
management skills are necessary to ensure that each member of the family
successfully completes the transition into the next stage of life.
Five qualities that characterize a strong family are:
*spending substantial amounts of “good” time together
*insisting on respectful continuing
communication among all members
*showing appreciation and affections
for each other
*dealing with crises positively and
effectively
*maintaining a strong commitment to
family life
2.
Family management
skills are necessary for maintaining a happy and successful self, marriage,
home, for raising children, and for interacting with one’s extended family
including the community at large.
These skills include such things as:
*effective communication
*promotion of self-esteem and
respect for self and others
*emphasis on education
*effective problem solving
*building a foundation of principles
and values
*personal involvement of both
parents, or extended caretakers
*modeling healthful behaviors
*providing a safe environment
*an understanding of the different
development stages of life
The developing of a healthy Self, Caretaking Team and Home
lead toward the desire for and commitment to gaining more Knowledge about the
most important job an adult will ever have…parent. The degree of health to which a parent grows
will determine if that parent will have a high level of Response-Ability
instead of remaining in conflict and confusion with a high level of
Response-Disability. The more competent
a parent becomes in responding to the inevitable growth behaviors of adults and
children, the more their lives will come together in good and healthy ways.