HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-07-04, Page 10Facilitator
Programs right STEP for parents
Don Keillor, Chief Executiveofficer of the Huron-Perth Centre
for Youth and Adolescence knows that parenting can be an
“upsetting business’’. Mr. Keillor and others conduct special
classes to help parents learn to cope with situations that arise
when raising children.
THEFT FROM VEHICLES:
On April 14, 1990 at about 10:30
a.m. a fisherman pulled his boat
from the water at the North
Harbour Road boat launch and then
walked about 40 feet away to
engage in conversation with a
group of fishermen. When he
returned to his boat a black
transparent tackle pouch (three
foot by two foot in size) had been
removed from his boat. The pouch
contained $500 worth of tackle
consisting of five rows of 20 lures,
with the top row containing Cana
dian wiggler brand lures.
CASE #2
During the night of June 19-20
and between the hours of 8:30 p.m.
and 8:15 a.m. a locked vehicle
which was parked behind the Bank
of Montreal in Goderich was enter
ed and an extensive array of
camera equipment stolen.
Stolen were the following items:
1 - Optex Gadget bag. grey in
colour and containing:
1 - Pentax KI000 Camera body
Serial #8292636
1 - SMC Pentax A 50 mm lens
Serial # 3519482
1 - SMC Pentax M 135mm lens
Serial # 6069253
1 - Vivitar electronic flash model
111900, Serial # 8118269
2 - lens caps
1 - back cap
1 Pentax Gadget bag, grey and
black with the name Pentax on the
side. This bag contained:
1 - Pentax K1000 (SPT) camera
body, Serial # 8417991
1 - Pentax 35 - 70mm zoom lens
with macro, Serial #2713-2093617
1 - Vivitar 285HV zoom thyristor
flash, with vari-power.
Serial # 3301865
1 - Pentax 28mm lens
1 - Tamron 80-210mm zoom lens
2 - Skylite filters
Crime
of the
Week
2 - sets of batteries
1 - battery charger
3 - lens caps
1 - back cap.
If you have information about
this or any other crime call Crime
Stoppers of Huron County, 1-800-
265-1777 and you will be eligible to
receive a reward of up to $1,000.
You will never have to reveal your
name nor appear in court. Remem
ber crime doesn’t pay Crime Stop
pers does.
3 charged
in drug bust
Three people were remanded in
Provincial Court in Wingham Wed
nesday on charges of cultivating
marijuana and possessing the drug
for the purposes of trafficking.
Larry Park and Jayne Park of RR
2, Wingham and Brian C. Mighton
of RR 1, Clifford will all appear
again on July 25 for disclosure of
facts in the case. They were
charged after police seized a large
amount of marijuana in Turnberry
Township May 17.
Rise
gets grant
Sunrise Dairy of Wingham has
received $20,000 under the Small
Food Processors Assistance Pro
gram of the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food.
The grant was part of a total
grant of $645,800 to various proces
sors across the province. Also
receiving a grant was Bruce Pack
ers Ltd. of Paisley.
BY BONNIE GROPP
Someone once said that parent
ing is the toughest job in the world,
yet, it’s the only one you are
expected to jump into without
education or training.
With this in mind, the Huron
Centre for Youth and Adolescence,
Huron County Health Unit and
Children’s Aid Society offer a
variety of programs that take a
little of the guess work out of being
a parent. One of these, Systematic
Training for Effective Parenting
(STEP), a nine week program that
just finished in Brussels, is a guide
to democratic child-rearing. It has
programs designed for the pre
school level, complete with video
tapes, a step into the modern age;
school age children and one for
teens.
Don Keillor, Chief Executive
Officer for the three offices of the
Huron Centre says the program
primarily respects the fact that the
people who are taking it want to do
a good job. In parenting, people
tend to get disappointed and there
is a lot of self-blame when that
happens, he says. Through the pro
gram everyone has the chance to
contribute and discuss experience
with others. “It is our belief that
the expertise in this area is not
resident with the person running
the program,” Mr. Keillor said.
“The person running things has no
actual knowledge of who your kids
are or what they are like.”
Mr. Keillor explains, the pro
gram simply advises on child-rear
ing in this democratic age we now
live in. While he emphasizes the
Iiondesboro
Compiled by Mrs. June Fothergill. Phone 523-4360
New minister welcomed
Greeters at Londesboro United
Church on Sunday, July 1 were
Jack and Helen Lee. A lovely oil
portrait of the Queen was given to
the Church in memory of Mr. and
Mrs. Wilfred Penfound by their
family.
People
The sympathy of the community
is extended to Mrs. Isabelle Scan
lon and Marion, Mrs. John Snell,
on the passing of their brother Alex
Nethery.
Mrs. Hazel Watkins attended the
graduation of her grandson
Michael Holzworth at Wallace Pub
lic School on Wednesday evening,
June 27.
Happy Gang meets
For their June meeting the
Happy Gang Seniors met at the
Hall on Wednesday, June 27.
Twenty-two of them proceeded to
go to the farm of Frank DeJong to
see his 85 foot windmill which took
17 years to build. It is used to saw
lumber. After this members went
to Bayfield Park for a picnic supper
with birthday cake and ice cream.
There will be no senior meetings
until September.
Howson & Howson
Limited
BLYTH
523-4241
importance of authority in raising
healthy children, he believes you
have to teach them respect for
authority. “What we hope for is
that when you launch your child
away from home, you have produc
ed someone who shows appropriate
respect for authority. Someone who
knows that blind obedience to
authority is neither respectful nor
desirable.”
The first sessions of the STEP
course deal with understanding
children’s behaviour and under
standing more about being a
parent. Parents, it explains, need
to build positive relationships
through mutual respect, taking
time for fun, encouraging their
children and communicating love.
They should remove themselves
from confrontations and learn to
deal with specific situations that
recurr, in a different manner. “If
nothing else,” Mr. Keillor noted,
“you take the child by surprise.
When you don’t react normally, or
in a way they expect, they in turn
no longer know how to respond.”
Other chapters in the STEP
manual deal with building child
ren’s confidence and feelings of
worth; how to really listen to your
child; natural and logical conse
quences, a method of discipline
that develops responsibility - how
to apply them and family meetings.
All are geared to helping parents
become responsible to their child
ren but not for their children.
Teacher Cathy Elliott, who
brought the course to Brussels,
said parents have to learn when it
is their problem and when it is the
child’s. “Asa parent it is up to you
Flowers on the pulpit were in
memory of Alex Nethery by his
sisters Isabelle Scanlon and Marion
Snell. The choir sang two anthems
“The sermon topic was “What
were you expecting?” The congre
gation welcomed its new minister
Rev. Paul Ross. We wish him the
best in his ministry in the coming
months and welcome him to the
community.
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to make sure your children have
nice clothes. It is not your responsi
bility to make them wear them.”
This is a typical example of what
parents face daily. So often they
take on more than they need to
almost to the point of servitude.
The theory of STEP is that it is
wrong for parents to feel they must
do everything for their children.
Though the idea may be well-inten
tioned, not letting children make
their own decisions and deal with
conflicts and problems hinders
self-confidence and independence.
Many parents see their children’s
behaviour as a reflection of their
competence as parents. The demo
cratic approach suggests that child
ren must be trusted to learn from
their experience.
The final chapters are on family
meetings and the importance of
this forum for improving communi
cation, discussing issues, and con
cerns in addition to building on
positive feelings. They can be
informal or business like depend
ing on the needs of the family.
Mr. Keillor summed it up saying
parents need not think they lose
control when they raise children
with respect and treating them as
equals. “The discipline is there,
but if it’s handled smoothly there is
less of the aggravation or anger,
that often accompanies more ex
treme methods.” Frequently, too
the discipline, as in grounding
onlysolves the problem for that
moment. STEP strives for long
term.
The programs are available by
contacting the Youth Centre,
Health Unit or Children’s Aid. If
there is demand they will accom
modate and the costs are nominal,
just the price of the kit. In the case
of the one STEP program the
manual is $15. However, they have
often been loaned, Mr. Keillor
said.
In addition there are numerous
other programs available, includ
ing one conducted by the Health
Nurses on Parent Education.
Mr. Keillor says they are cur
rently looking into setting up a
program to train facilitators as they
would like to have more programs
established in the county but don’t
have enough staff to handle it.
“We are convinced you don’t
need enormous expertise to be a
facilitator. You develop an attitude
for it. Face it. Parenting can be an
upsetting business. These courses
are a modest investment for
society.”