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Parent Support Circles
Anyone can become a parent, but positive parenting has to be learned. The good news is that it can be learned and practiced by anyone, male or female, young or old, parents, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbours.
What is positive parenting?
It is learning to distinguish punishment from discipline; knowing that children’s rights do not undermine parental rights; and valuing children for who they are instead of who we think they should be.
Parent Support Circles help parents learn positive parenting by providing them with a safe atmosphere in which to vent their stress, learn new skills, and receive emotional support. The circles strengthen the first link in a chain that connects positive parenting with healthy children, and help healthy families build strong communities.
Parent Support Circles:
• are anonymous, confidential self-help groups for parents
with
children aged 12 and younger.
• offer weekly, two-hour meetings facilitated by two trained volunteers.
• feature ongoing entry and between-meeting support from facilitators
and co-participants.
• provide opportunities for parents to share concerns, support each other,
and learn parenting and life skills.
• connect participants with other services and resources in their community.
Parent Support Circle parents report that they:
• learn effective, non-abusive ways to discipline their children.
• understand themselves and their children better.
• build and learn to express positive feelings about themselves.
• improve their relationships with other people.
• handle stress better, especially when related to parenting.
• learn Canadian laws that pertain to raising children, dealing with life and in particular, their children. (This is especially important to single parents and parents new to BC or Canada.)
• overcome their feelings of isolation and loneliness in dealing with life in general and their children in particular. (This is especially important to single parents and parents new to BC or Canada.)
A profile of Parent Support Circle participants indicates that:
• 88% are women, 60% are single parents, and 81% have children between six and 12 years old.
• 50% have some post-secondary education.
• 56% report contact with the Ministry of Children and Family Development and 25% say that one or more of their children have been in government care at some time.
• 68% receive some form of social assistance and 79% live in poverty.
• up to 36% are members of visible minorities.
• most attend circles three times monthly for an average of 18 months.
Parent Support Services Society of BC:
• has Parent Support Circles throughout BC.
• offers separate Circles to serve Latin-American, Filipino, Chinese, South Asian, Aboriginal, Young-parent, Grandparent and Stepparent communities.
• recruits and trains more than 50 volunteers annually as Circle facilitators, and another 100 to serve on Steering Committees.
• utilizes more than 300 volunteers throughout BC, who give 23,000 hours annually to support the families in their communities.
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