Carers get parenting training

National

SUPPORTIVE family environments reduce the harsh treatment of children, according to a project centred on parenting for child development.
This finding was revealed by the director of the centre for child development at the Menzies School of Health Research, Professor Gary Robinson during the ‘Parenting For Child Development’ programme review and planning workshop held in Port Moresby.
The project was conducted over six weeks in 10 communities in Madang and Western Highlands. More than 223 caregivers of children between the ages of three and ten attended the workshops.
They gave their responses to questionnaires on family well-being, parenting style with
emphasis on how they disciplined children.
About 60 per cent of the parents reported physical and verbal abuse of children with psychological control and neglect. Most children were treated harshly by young caregivers such as teenage parents.
The findings showed that the treatment of children through harsh parenting styles decreased significantly after the caregivers attended the programme which improved their understanding of child development and parenting skills.
The programme was jointly developed by the Menzies School of Health Research, United Nation Children’s Fund and the Catholic archdioceses of Madang, Mt, Hagen and Kundiawa. It was funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The key components of the parenting workshops focused on understanding children’s development, behaviour and
developing positive parenting strategies.