Tag Archives: Parents’ Week

Parenting NI One of Belfast Lord Mayor’s Charities of the Year

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Rt Hon Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Nuala McAllister, supports Parenting NI Parents’ Week Campaign – Every Child is a Star.

Local parenting support charity, Parenting NI, launched Parents’ Week yesterday with an event in Belfast City Hall focusing on how parents can be support to help nurture the child’s mental health and resilience. 

Parenting NI are delighted to have the Mayor, Councillor Nuala McAllister’s support for the Week. Chief Executive of Parenting NI, Charlene Brooks said,

“We are delighted that Parenting NI has been chosen as one of the Lord Mayor of Belfast’s Charities of the Year. Parents’ Week is our biggest campaign in the year and this one is particularly significant as we know how concerned parents are about their children’s mental health. 

“It can often be difficult for parents to reach out for help and the more public support we have for valuing parenting will help reduce this stigma. That’s why it is fantastic to have Lord Mayor Nuala McAllister’s support which has been a great addition to awareness of the campaign and also to the charities ongoing work with parents.”

Lord Mayor Nuala McAllister said,

“I am delighted to have Parenting NI as one of my charities of the year and to support them with the Parents’ Week campaign. Any support which we can give to improve children’s resilience and mental health is vital. Parenting NI is providing an invaluable service to all parents by highlighting ways in which we can support our children and each other.”

Parents’ Week. What’s the Point?

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Parents Week logo 2016

This week we’ve been celebrating Parents’ Week. This is an important week in the Parenting NI calendar every October as it gives us the opportunity to highlight the important roles parents play in their children’s lives.

The week also focuses on the need for support for parents. We know that when parents are supported, outcomes for children and young people improve. At a time when pressures and challenges for families are ever increasing, we feel it’s important to ensure parents know there is support available to them and that it is ok to ask for help.

As you all know, this year our focus for Parents’ Week has been ‘Parenting in the Digital Age’. The reason we chose this issue as our theme is because we have been hearing from parents that use of digital technology has posed unique challenges when it comes to parenting.

As part of the week we wanted to give you idea of the types of cases Parenting NI hear from parents regarding digital technology through our Helpline, Counselling and Parenting Programmes.

Sharing Images
A 15 year old girl sent a revealing photo of herself to her boyfriend, innocently thinking that this would be an image that would be kept between them. When the relationship broke down, as teenage romances often do, the boy decided to circulate the image round the classroom. The image then started appearing on various social media accounts, some accounts where even set up pretending to be the girl.

This caused the teenage girl great distress. Feeling alone and that her friends had even turned on her, she finally got the courage to tell her mum what had happened.

At this point mum contacted Parenting NI really concerned about the impact it was having on her daughter and their relationship. As the girl was under 18 the PSNI had to be contacted and the images were eventually removed and those involved were cautioned.

This is something which is happening regularly for young people and so it is important for us to remind our children that sharing images of children under 18, even if it’s you, is illegal and could have serious consequences.

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Mental Health
A dad contacted Parenting NI worried about how his 13 year old daughter had become depressed. He explained that any time he and his partner had tried to talk to her about what was wrong she became really withdrawn and didn’t want to talk about it, usually ending up with the daughter locking herself in her room.

After coming to some Face2Face sessions at Parenting NI with her dad, the young girl revealed that she had been supporting a friend online who was expressing mental health difficulties. This friend had been self harming, and using a pro-self harm social media page to post images of what she was doing. The 13 year old had not known where to turn, so decided she would do her best to encourage her friend not to harm herself. In her desire to try and support her friend this was having a knock on effect on the girls own mental health, causing her to be withdrawn from her family, friends and things she used to like doing.

The girl and her dad are now communicating better and her friend has been able to get the support she needs to get better.

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Grooming
The parents over a 14 year old boy were noticing that he was receiving post with random gifts which he was hiding in his bedroom. The gifts ranged from aftershave to video games, but when they found some designer underwear and other inappropriate gifts they became very suspicious and worried.

With some guidance from Parenting NI’s Helpline mum and dad sat their son down for a chat one evening to let him know they knew about the packages he was receiving. The boy eventually admitted that he had made a new “friend” on a gaming site he had been playing on in the evenings and that this friend had started sending him gifts because he had helped him complete some really difficult levels on the game and he wanted to say thank you. The boy’s parents were really concerned that he had given out their address to a stranger. After some further conversation, the boy revealed that his online friend started asking for pictures in return for the gifts, and wanted to video chat with him or maybe even meet in person.

Parenting NI was able to support the parents of the 14 year old boy to report the particular user that had been sending the gifts to their son and open up communication within the family.

These are all examples of scenarios which we help to support parents with through our services. The intention of sharing them with you isn’t to frighten you or cause you to disengage further from what your child is doing online, but rather to show that this is the reality. These are the sort of issues our young people are experiencing, and therefore the kinds of things we as parents, and as professionals working with families need to be aware of to be able to support them the best we can.

The message we want all parents to know is you are not alone, everyone struggles with parenting from time to time, support is available and it’s ok to reach out for help no matter what issue it is you may be facing.

Find out more about Parenting NI services:

Parents Helpline Face to Face Support Parenting Programmes Parental Participation Employee Wellbeing

You can also donate to Parenting NI to help us keep our services for parents going. Even a small amount can help us with providing counselling and parenting programmes across Northern Ireland which make a massive difference to families lives.

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Parents’ Week Highlighting Challenges of Parenting in the Digital Age

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Leading local parenting support charity, Parenting NI has launched its annual Parents’ Week campaign which this year focuses on the challenges of parenting in the digital age.

Parenting NI increasingly hear from parents concerned about their children’s use of technology, whether it’s how much time they spend on their devices or sexting and cyberbullying. The organisation is using the week to remind parents that they don’t need to be experts when it comes to the internet, just having open conversations and exploring the internet with your children can help keep them safe online.

Parents often feel that putting blocks and filters on devices and broadband is no longer enough to combat the risks posed online and don’t know who to turn to for help or advice. Parenting NI will be launching top tips as part of Parents’ Week and encouraging schools to get on board, promoting positive message of online safety to help parents manage the challenges of parenting in the digital age.

Charlene Brooks, Interim CEO at Parenting NI said, “The increasing reliance on digital technology and the rise in the use of the internet and social media, whilst important for sharing information and useful for communication, has brought unique challenges for parents.

Parenting NI recognise that it can seem like a daunting topic to tackle given the amount of information and horror stories we can often be bombarded with. However, it’s important to remember that there are also many benefits to the internet. Some of the key messages that will be promoted during the week will be to encourage parents to talk to their children about what they do online and setting some age appropriate, family boundaries when it comes to use of the internet and technology.”

A free event for parents will take place on Monday 24th October at the Hilton in Templepatrick with psychologist, Oxford fellow and author of Parents and Digital Technology: How to Raise the Connected Generation, Dr John Coleman. The evening will offer parents tips, strategies and techniques for navigating the digital world with their children.

Speaking on writing the book Dr John Coleman said, “Research for the book actually led to exploring impressive positives in using digital technology as well as the possible dangers. The approach is to explore the anxieties, explain the genuine worries and threats but then to look at the very real benefits. The trick, which we aim to help parents manage, is to balance the two and learn how to maximise the benefits while minimising the dangers.”

As part of the Parents’ Week campaign Parenting NI are also asking MLAs to get behind the online safety messages and to make a pledge for their support for parents. Kellie Armstrong, Alliance MLA is one of the politicians keen to back the move, “I am delighted to be supporting Parenting NI’s ‘Parenting in the Digital Age’ campaign as part of Parents’ Week. This campaign helps keep parents informed & as a local MLA and a parent I understand it is important to ensure we stay aware of best practice. All parents have an important role to play in ensuring their children stay safe online and we all have a responsibility to make sure the internet is a safe and enjoyable place.”