Positive co-parenting requires ‘healthy communication’- Seminar emphasises
Programme Director for Children and Family Support Services in the Social Development Department, Miss Laurel Freeman said hosting the co-parenting seminar demonstrated a proactive commitment to promoting healthy family dynamics and safeguarding children’s well-being.
Miss Freeman, according to Government Information Service (GIS) press release on April 22, 2024, said providing parents with the platform to learn and engage in effective co-parenting strategies will only contribute to a safer and more supportive environment for children to grow and thrive.
‘Healthy communication’
“It does not lend well for healthy and positive child development for children to see their parents not having healthy communication,” Miss Freeman said, adding, “Abuse is not only physical but it can be psychological. It is also neglect. When a parent separates from the other parent and does not have a healthy emotional outlook or relationship, the child falls in the middle and tends to receive the harsher end of the fallout.”
The Programme Director said the message that was stressed by the panelists was that proper and healthy communication must be maintained regardless of the relationship between both parents.
Miss Freeman said, “The main focus should be the child and the seminar also highlighted several other coping mechanisms such as family support and therapy to overcome challenges and become better co-parents.”
‘Protecting Children is Everyone’s Business’
The panel featured Therapist at Therapy Works Ms Sasha H. Stoutt, Grade Nine Guidance Counsellor at the Elmore Stoutt High School Mrs Chonda T. Jeffers-George, Woman Detective Constable in the Family and Juvenile Unit in the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force Miss Kejahana Stephens, Attorney-at-law with focus on Family Law Ms Stacy Abel and featured guests Ms Jermaine Baltimore and Mr Paul Thomas who are co-parents.
April is Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month. It is being observed under the theme ‘Pinwheels for Prevention: Protecting Children is Everyone’s Business’.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Follow Us On
7 Responses to “Positive co-parenting requires ‘healthy communication’- Seminar emphasises”
Parental alienation is the separation of a child from a parent. It is deliberately caused, maliciously done, and entirely preventable. This terrible form of child abuse has long-lasting effects for all concerned. The term had only just been coined when my problems began, right here in the BVI thirty-five years ago. There were no books on the subject and no guidance for those expected to advise and judge.
The fight for my children, then aged three, five and seven, to have access to their father was fought under the most difficult circumstances. Other than to attend court hearings, I was forbidden to set foot on the island that was their home, and which had previously been my home. By fighting for a basic human right, I was deemed an undesirable person and a menace to the public good. For a period of five years, I waged my campaign from the cabin of a small boat while sailing from island to island. In those days there were no emails or internet. To communicate I purchased one of the very first cell phones, a device so heavy and cumbersome that it needed its own shoulder bag. On my phone I would find the poignant message, “Daddy, where are you?”.
Although most cases of parental alienation result from the breakup of a marriage, it can also occur within a marriage. For various reasons, one parent can alienate a child against the other. Furthermore, as an adult, a daughter or son on marrying can be alienated against their father or mother by their husband or wife. This scenario is as damaging and distressing as parental alienation in its more recognized form.
There are millions of similar cases worldwide, but mine has the distinction of being one of the worst. My book For the Sake of the Children is a personal account of parental alienation. It can be accessed at: https://www.studiopublications.org/
But to respond. It most certainly was not done for marketing but to bring attention to one of the most cruel forms of child abuse.