Reaching Outto the Media and Parents Relayed by Cayman Delegate
In an effort to reach more parents, Cayman'sDepartment of Social Services has teamed up with employers totake parenting workshops into the workplace in the Islands andthere is a support group run by this country's Education Departmentfor parents with children with ADHD (Attention Deficit HyperactiveDisorder).
This information was relayed to the SecondCaribbean Conference on Parenting in Castries, St Lucia, by aCayman Representative, Ms Maureen Gay, who said that there ismuch room for improvement regarding public response to, and thelevel of interest in, parent training in the Cayman Islands.
The conference was hosted by the Jamaica-basedParenting Partners (PP) group and the Government of St. Luciaon from 27 to 29 June and four delegates attended from the CaymanIslands: the Department of Social Services' Foster Care and AdoptionCoordinator, Maureen Gay, who is also the PP representative inthe Islands, and Social Work Manager, Deborah Webb. Presidentof the Cayman Islands Early Childhood Association, Reina Jeffersonwas also present, while Government Information Services' Newsand Features Coordinator, Wosila Rochester, provided Cayman'smedia link.
Recognising the importance of the mediain shaping public opinion and awareness, Parenting Partners chosethe theme 'Going Public', reaching out to regional media agenciesto invite their participation and support for parenting education.The aim was to "meet on equal terms and gain a better understandingand appreciation of the issues and concerns in this area, to learnfrom [media] experiences and, ultimately, to work together."
In keeping with the central theme, keynotespeaker, Mrs. Melrose Rattray of Jamaica, spoke on 'Topical Issuesin Parenting and Media Impact,' warning that while today televisionis often regarded as a substitute parent, "whatever is fedto children will surely fatten them." She said out that overtviolence continues to predominate on [US] television, averagingsome 652 scenes of violence in a single day's viewing.
Cayman's representatives joined some 71delegates who represented parenting, early childhood educationand development and media agencies from 17 other countries inthe region. Antigua, Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Curacao,Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles,St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Suriname, Turks & Caicos and Trinidad& Tobago were also in attendance.
Remarking that the conference provided valuableinformation on what Parenting Partners has accomplished throughoutthe region, Ms Gay said that it also afforded the opportunityfor colleagues to share ideas and to look at ways in which theorganisation could develop in the future.
"I feel that meeting like this is productive;it reinforces our sense of unity and purpose, highlighting bothwhat we are doing and what we can further strive to do,"she said.
Ms Webb particularly appreciated the plenarysessions and the workshops that followed: "So far as ourchildren are concerned, the workshops placed considerable emphasison the influence and responsibility of parents and other adults,particularly those associated with the media. "For me, theyreinforced the fact that our communities play vital roles in thedevelopment of local children."
Mrs Reina Jefferson also feels that theconference was both timely and pertinent: "It was especiallyrevealing to note how television influences the minds of childrenbetween birth and eight years of age,". She added a hopethat there will be future forums in Cayman to publicize parentingissues and to raise collaboration efforts between different agencies.
Parenting Partners was formed in 1992, evolvingfrom a small complex of professionals and agencies in Jamaica,working in parent-related fields. Since then, the network hasdeveloped throughout the Caribbean, working to address the manychallenges involved in parenting issues, in what the organizationdescribed as confidence that cooperation in shared tasks and mutualsupport provides the formula for success.
In 1994, the PP developed a regional parenttraining manual 'Pathways to Parenting, A Caribbean Approach.'The manual is now widely used throughout the region and beyond,and in 1998, the first regional journal on parenting, 'ParentingPlus,' was published with the help of the C.I. Department of SocialServices. The group's first regional conference took place inBarbados in 1996.
Parenting Partners' decision to involvethe media's direct participation also reflects the Critical Stakeholders'Workshop on Gender Equity and Equality which took place in Caymanin June.
These events perhaps mark the beginningsof a trend to invite local media on board as partners when thereis a need to establish direction on critical issues, the groupsaid.
Sponsorship came from the Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank and the UNICEF Caribbean Area Office.