Playcentre continues call for positive parenting

Press release – New Zealand Playcentre Federation
For immediate release 25 August 2009

Playcentre continues its call for positive parent education

With the result of the child discipline referendum in, the New Zealand Playcentre Federation continues its call for more effort to be given to positive parenting education.

“Providing parents with opportunities for free courses in positive parenting education, and building support networks in the community, is the best way to ensure young children grow up in a non-violent environment,” said Playcentre Federation President, Marion Pilkington.

“Over time, this this will create a society where no-one feels the need to use physical punishment on their children. The research is clear that children who grow up without fear of violence in the home are much more likely to become stable, secure adults.”

Over ten years ago, the New Zealand Playcentre Federation called for increased funding for parent education to remove the need for parents to use “reasonable force” against children, with a remit passed at their 1998 national conference.

Since that time, tens of thousands of parents have been involved in the nearly 500 Playcentres around the country. As well as informal mentoring, all have been offered free courses to help them learn techniques for positive guidance of children's behaviour.

The Playcentre education programme includes teaching practical techniques for working with children such as applying consistent boundaries and focusing on the underlying causes of behaviour. The programme also teaches communication skills, and promotes awareness of the impact of culture on parenting and an appreciation of different parenting styles. These courses have been shown to improve parenting skills and confidence in working with both children and adults.

Playcentre will continue to offer courses and informal mentoring to its members, but calls on the government to find more resources so such parenting education can extend more widely into the community.

ENDS

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