Tania Whitaker: Parenting course changed her life

A Toolbox Parenting course has changed the life of Tania Whitaker.

Whitaker was sentenced to sixteen years in jail for the brutal manslaughter of her two-year-old daughter, Delcelia, but last night on TV3's 3rd Degree programme (11/6/14) she described how she has turned her life around, due, in part, to The Parenting Place course she attended. She says that she had no idea of basics of good parenting before doing the course. "I brought a baby into the world but I still had no idea how to raise her, how to change her, how to feed her properly....I had no idea at the time Del-C was born that when she cried it meant she was wet or hungry."

Twenty three years on from the death of Delcelia, Tania is again a mother with a happy, healthy six-year-old, though access to her daughter is limited by CYFs. She is allowed to pick her daughter up after school and she can stay overnight with Tania once a fortnight. Tania says she can understand the reasons for the supervision but adds she has never given CYFs any reasons for concern with her new daughter.

Manager of Toolbox Parenting Programmes at The Parenting Place, Gill Williams, commented "It's hard to imagine a more tragic case than that of Delcelia Whitaker - it shocked us all at the time. Tania's story - her own tragic upbringing and abuse - reinforces what we know about the causes of child abuse but it also gives hope that people can change. We are proud that our courses are helping parents change the way they raise their children." And the tragic events that happened this week in Henderson highlight the need for parenting programmes such as can be found at the website of The Parenting Place www.theparentingplace.com

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