The Benefits of Parenting Groups

Doug's parents were frustrated. They couldn't figure out how to get their son to do his homework or how to get him to overcome his negative attitude. That was before they started attending a parenting group.

Dealing with what children do and how they learn their behavior, the weekly program teaches parents to rely on a positive method to get their children to do things they way they should at home.

A parenting group look at alternatives, such as taking away privileges, when a kid does something wrong, and giving simple attention such as smiles, hugs and positive statements when the kid does something right.

Out of frustration, the immediate reaction is to resort to punishment if a kid doesn't do things the way parents think they should. This produces depression, violence, an argumentative behavior and an intense dislike for the punisher.

Positive approach is much more effective and far outweighs "waiting until the kid doesn't do something and screaming." Plus, you might get better cooperation when you ask a kid to do something as a favor. The methods learned in this group can give parents the tools of child management to use to get positive feedback and improvement. A lot of parent use the same approach on their job, too."

Parents with all types of interests attend the special sessions. Some may have serious problems, such as no discipline control, while others may just want to improve the general atmosphere at home

A child's negative attitude is usually the most common parent complaint. But parents should not work on changing the negative attitude. First parents should identify which negative behavior they want to change, and then start a management program.

Take for example Paul. He has a teenage daughter named Sally who enjoys calling her younger brother names. When Sally continually calls her younger brother names, her parents subtract a dollar from her weekly allowance for each offense. For each day Sally goes without name calling, she is awarded a privilege, such as driving the family car for a day. She also is recognized with a positive statement for reinforcement. Paul is keeping track of Sally's behaviour and he's happy to learn that the procedure is working great.

Serious problems, such as teen-age pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse, have not found their way into the parenting group. Parents with any real serious problems are kept away from the group, because it would monopolize the group's time. If you have those kinds of problems you should seek a professional help where he can work with you individually to solve the problem.