By Staff
FU.N. program teaches parenting lessons
By GREG KATSKI
Staff Writer
The Cornerstone Family Worship Center held the first of 10 parenting sessions, titled Families Understanding Nurturing, Thursday night. The program, which is sponsored and funded by East Carolina Behavioral Health, promotes positive parenting techniques.
The program was created by the Beaufort County Community Collaborative, which meets once a month to discuss issues and concerns in the county. Classes will be held every Thursday from April 3 through June 5 at the Cornerstone Family Worship Center in Washington.
The sessions are divided into four classes, two classes to train parents of adolescents and pre-adolescents and two classes to help adolescents and preadolescents.
Each class is run by a certified facilitator.
Andrea Starkie, an intern from East Carolina University and the program’s assistant facilitator, explained the goal of the class.
The nurturing program’s goals, as stated by a program handout, are to increase positive self-concept and self-esteem, increase empathy, teach alternatives to corporal punishments and empower parents to empower children.
Each parenting session has a different theme, including “Adolescence: What’s normal?,” “About Me,” “Parent &Teen Relationship,” “Helping Teens Manage their Behavior” and “Ways to Handle Anger.”
The classes aim to help parents and children express their feelings and better interact with each other.
Each session is preluded by a community dinner, where parents and their children can communicate in a welcoming environment.
At the conclusion of the dinner, parents and children are split up into different classes. Everything discussed during the classes is strictly confidential, and meant to help parents and children cope with their problems.
McIntyre hopes that the impact of the parenting sessions extends beyond the classroom. He believes there is a clear need for the program in Beaufort County.