PROGRAMMES - TEEN PARENTING
Our Teen Parenting Programme provides teenage parents and caregivers with support as well as parenting and life skills. The teen pregnancy rate in South Africa remains unacceptably high and we do not condone teenage pregnancy. However, teenagers with parenting responsibilities need support to enable them to cope with these, together with their normal developmental changes and challenges and academic responsibilities.
Teen Parenting Programme:
This programme equips teenagers with parenting skills which enable them to be more effective, responsible and nurturing mothers and fathers. Life skills promote sound decision-making, helping teenagers avoid the mistakes of the past and cope better with day-to-day life challenges. We believe that meeting the emotional needs of teenagers, together with their sustained effective parenting of their children, will result in a reduction of teenage pregnancy in the next generation.
This programme is run in schools for learners and “out of school” in community venues for teenagers that may have been forced to drop out of school due to parenting responsibilities. Participants voluntarily commit to attending 20 weekly group sessions. The skills are taught in an interactive way that encourages participation and sharing of experiences.
Positive Parenting Component
The Positive Parenting component includes sessions on:
- Understanding children’s behaviour
- Listening and responding to children’s feelings
- Building self-esteem
- Positive discipline
- Problem-solving
Life Skills Component
The Life Skills component – particularly pertinent for developing responsibility in teenage parents and caregivers – deals with specific challenges such as:
- Assertiveness
- Managing money
- Love relationships
- HIV/AIDS
- Loss and grief