Articles
GA Alcohol Awareness Campaign
Bolivia 2012
Nurturing Greatness: How to Empower Your Child
10 Free Family Activities for Fall
Six Ways to Protect Your Child from Bullying
Red Ribbon Week 2010: Prevention starts with Parenting
Give Children a Chance.
Take Action Against Underage Drinking.
More than 1 million middle schoolers try alcohol for the first time every year. Each of these children is about seven times more likely to develop alcohol problems, than those who wait until age 21.
The short-term and long-term consequences of underage drinking affect everyone. It contributes to academic failure, illicit drug use, violence, injuries, risky sexual behavior, motor vehicle crashes, homicides and suicides. Alcohol can permanently alter the structure and function of an adolescent’s developing brain, which continues to mature into his/her mid-twenties.
In response to this serious problem, HEARTS for Families has launched a community-based awareness campaign to shed light on the number of adolescents and families that are affected by underage drinking. (view the calendar of campaign activities) The campaign’s main goals are to increase awareness among parents and community leaders, and encourage them to participate in a needs assessment of our community. The secondary goal is to empower youth to resist the pressure to drink and to proudly identify with the reasons they choose not to drink.
Our agency is joining others that are taking action as part of the Georgia Strategic Prevention System, funded by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Disabilities.
Give children a chance to grow up in a safer community. Take action against underage drinking.Bolivia 2012
View photos from the trip >>
HEARTS heads back to Bolivia. This time we delivered a full 6-day Nurturing God’s Way program facilitator training to participants representing four organizations to present programs in three different cities: Cochabamba, La Paz, and Tarija. We learned more about the culture and family life during this trip which allowed us to be more effective in relating the program information to the training participants. One thing we learned is when a mother or father is placed in prison in Bolivia, the whole family lives in prison. Although there are benefits to keeping a family together, can you imagine what children are exposed to in that environment?
We experienced many obstacles in presenting this life-changing information: language barriers, flooded training room, the President of Bolivia 3 days before the beginning of the training declaring a National Holiday on the 1st day of training, high altitudes, sleep deprivation, broken teeth, one of trainers getting sick during the training, plus many more. Through the power of the Almighty, we overcame and were blessed beyond compare by the experience. Many people donated funds for the travel expenses and program materials. We are still receiving funds so that the work is not forgotten but continues to be supported. We were blessed with good food, a hospitable spirit from our hosts, a dry place to lay our heads at night, and a local Bolivian who is originally from Virginia volunteering to proof-read the program materials for clear meaning and culturalization of the material.
A special thank you goes to:
- Illiana Avalos for working tirelessly translating the program materials and willingness to put herself in unfamiliar territory and away from her young children for two weeks;
- Susan Obrien and her whole prayer support team who prayed without ceasing for the training, for those attending the training and for those on the trip;
- the individuals who believed in this mission effort by donating funds and prayers.
Nurturing Greatness: How to Empower Your Child
Empowering your children causes them to believe that they have the power to pursue their dreams. An empowered child will grow up to be an adult who can create a rewarding life and achieve his/her goals.Quick Tips:
- While grocery shopping: Give your kids their own shopping lists and encourage questions.
- Ask their opinions.
- When children tell you about future dreams, such as what they want to be when they grow up: Encourage them, no matter how absurd the goal.
- Apologize when you make a mistake.
- When children feel afraid or upset: Acknowledge their feelings and respect them as genuine, so they feel validated and safe to express that emotion.
- Use positive affirmations, such as "You are helpful and caring." This will increase your child's self confidence, positive attitude and beliefs needed to create joyful experiences
- Let them experience being frustrated, struggling, making mistakes, and finding a solution.
- When you want your child to do something: Give limited choices instead of a direct order or threat. Example: "Do you want to put the big blocks away first, or the small blocks?"
- Let them say "no" to you, when appropriate.
- Give children greater responsibilities.
- Love them unconditionally, for who they are, not what they do.
- When you say "I love you": Look into your child's eyes, with sincerity.
10 Free Family Activities for Fall
1. Have a family movie night (click here for movies with positive messages)
2. Visit to a pumpkin stand or farm
3. Go on a scenic hike to see the changing leaves
4. Make homemade playdoh
5. Build a tent with blankets and sheets, chairs and chip clips
6. Make homemade Christmas gifts (click here for ideas)
7. Make a pinecone bird feeder
8. Organize a neighborhood bonfire
9. "Unplug" for a day, and play a board game
10. Rake leaves for an elderly neighbor
Six Ways to Protect Your Child from Bullying
By: Jenna Scott, Communications Coordinator, HEARTS for Families
A child that is bullied is like a house in a hurricane. If it has a strong foundation and support system, it will stay standing. A sense of self-worth and strong family ties will equip a child to endure rejection and personal attacks. “Almost 30 percent of youth in the United States (or over 5.7 million) are estimated to be involved in bullying as either a bully, a target of bullying, or both,” according to a recent national survey of middle and high school students. Whether your child is a bully, victim, or neither, these tips will give you a blueprint for how to construct a sense of confidence, build family bonds and prevent the damaging effects of negative peer relationships.
1 - Change the negative labels you give your children. The way children are treated by family and peers will directly affect their personalities, behaviors and self-worth. In fact, both victims and bullies often have low self-esteem. Statements such as “You’re so lazy,” and “Why are you such a bully?” are negative parental perceptions. These labels will shape a child’s identity, which will carry on into adulthood. If you focus on what your child does well and what makes you proud, they will own those qualities and develop positive self-worth.
2 - Praise for good behavior and small successes. Give your children opportunities to succeed at something, e.g., helping cook dinner. And whenever you get the opportunity, praise them. In order to start seeing changes in behavior, pay attention to the behavior you want to see, and model that behavior. Your child will be more confident, less likely to pick on others and less likely to be a victim.
3 - Increase your children’s personal power, and teach them to use it wisely. Power is a person’s ability to control their environment, including other people’s behaviors. Bullies enjoy using their personal power in negative ways, and victims often feel helpless. “When children receive negative messages or physical punishment at home, they tend to develop negative self concepts and expectations, and may therefore attack before they are attacked—bullying others gives them a sense of power and importance,” according to the National Association of School Psychologists. Try using alternative methods of punishment, like taking away privileges. Give children choices in everyday situations, so they can feel empowered. Let them pick a restaurant, an outfit to wear, or a TV show to watch.
4 - Help your children be able to control and express their feelings. Let your children know that all feelings are okay. It is normal to get angry. In 2008 the mother of a Gwinnett elementary school student was arrested for physically attacking a student who was bullying her son. Instead of protecting her son, she taught him that violence is an appropriate expression of anger. Explain to children that some feelings can be let out through talking, but others need to be let out through physical activity. Teach children healthy ways to communicate their feelings and model it for them to see. This could prevent children from becoming victims and victims from becoming bullies themselves.
5 - Encourage children to talk about their feelings. Remind kids that telling isn’t tattling, if it helps someone. Be careful not to dominate the conversation; children can communicate better when someone is not advising or lecturing them. “Improving parent-child communication and parental involvement with their children could have a substantial impact on child bullying,” said Dr. Rashmi Shetgiri, an author of a recent study analyzing data about bullying, “[Parents] who shared ideas and talked with their child, and those who met most of their child’s friends were less likely to have children who bully.” If children learn they can honestly and openly talk to their parents, it benefits all other relationships in their lives.
6 - Model empathy. Empathy is the ability for one person to perceive the emotions and needs of another. The way children are treated shapes the way children respond to others. When parents show empathy to their children and others, the children learn to care about other people’s feelings. This quality distinguishes bullies and bystanders from defenders, which are children who will stand up to bullies on behalf of victims. These kids do not bully back, but instead show empathy.
“Lastly, parents can take advantage of parenting programs that can help them become aware of and manage negative feelings, such as anger, and respond to their child in a non-aggressive manner,” Dr. Shetgiri said. Nurturing Parenting Programs are evidenced-based and proven to help parents manage their children’s feelings and behaviors. HEARTS for Families is a nonprofit in Snellville that provides these programs through partnering organizations.
Building a strong family requires patience, persistence and love. The time you put in will not only make your children more confident and successful, but it will benefit the health of your family for generations.
Red Ribbon Week 2010: Prevention starts with Parenting
By: Jenna Scott, Communications Coord., FNC-GA
Red Ribbon is the oldest and largest drug-prevention campaign in the country. During the last week in October, children sign pledge cards, wear red bracelets, march in parades, and most importantly, talk to their parents about the importance of living drug-free.
According to this year’s Partnership Attitude Tracking Study, the numbers of teens using the following drugs increased: alcohol by 11 percent, Ecstasy by 67 percent and marijuana by 19 percent. The data also showed a growing belief in the acceptability and benefits of drug use.
This puts the burden on the parents. Twenty percent of parents surveyed said their child has already used drugs or alcohol “beyond an experimental level,” as early as age ten. Communication is key. It is never too early to start talking to children about drugs.
HEARTS for Families partnered with Holy Cross Academy in Loganville, GA during Red Ribbon Week to encourage parents to start discussions with their preschoolers. Thirty families signed pledge cards and participated in daily activities. Preschool Director Sue Tomlinson said, “The activities made families of young children discuss substance abuse and drugs. There was a family that was facing a substance abuse issue with a family member, and the activities helped them talk through this situation with their little one. One parent talked about how the activities got her teenagers sharing with her preschooler at the dinner table about drugs... I saw the conversations it was starting with families. We are already talking about things like fire safety and planning fire drills in the home, and I realized this isn’t any different.”
We are excited about the positive outcomes of our local Red Ribbon campaign, and we are looking forward to expanding it next year! Thank you to Holy Cross for your participation and dedication to your community.