Most of us in the field, working with high-risk youth know that parent involvement is
the key to behavior change with adolescents. Yet, effectively educating parents
in basic behavioral strategies is time consuming and repetitive. The Parent
Project® is a parent training program designed for parents of strong-willed
adolescents. Since 2003, nearly
250 parents and their adolescents have attended Parent Project in Wood County
and they report that there is important information in Parent Project classes
for parents of all teens.
Topics include reducing family conflict and arguing, improving school
performance and attendance, identifying and intervening with alcohol and other
drug abuse, interceding with negative peer associations (including inappropriate
dating relationships) and helping parents to set clear, consistent rules with
enforceable consequences. Parents who attend the Parent Project® are more
likely to see their child’s attendance at school improve, and to require less
school-based disciplinary resources as parents find powerful interventions at
home with which to bring about change in their children. The motto of the
Parent Project® is “Parents are the answer … when they have the tools they
need.”
Presented in an educational format, parents are trained for a low fee of $20
for the accompanying 180-page workbook. Youth ages 12-18 are also invited to
attend a separate class at no additional cost. If the entire course is completed and the parent has
attended all of the required sessions, the $20 fee will be refunded. Parents
attend 18 hours of instruction for a cost of less than one session of private
counseling.
Here
are some comments from a family that completed Parent Project in the fall of
2011:
The information we learned from
the sessions is priceless!
Each session was full of information and techniques designed to help deal
with a variety of issues and situations that we are faced with on a daily
basis. This class has empowered us
to make positive changes in our family dynamics. After the first session we were so excited to learn
more. We began to implement the
techniques immediately and saw results right away. We continued to learn and
use the tools given to us. By the
end of the last session we were feeling more confident that we were definitely
on our way to becoming better parents, and raising respectful well adjusted
teenagers! Following the
guidelines we were given has definitely resulted in a more positive and happy
environment at our house.
Words could not express the appreciation we feel for the opportunity to
have attended these classes.
We would highly recommend The Parent Project to all parents!
The next
session will be held Tuesday evenings from Jan. 10 through March 13 at the
Rossford High School, 701 Superior St., Rossford. The first two classes
will run from 6 to 9 p.m. The remainder of the classes run from at 6 to 8 p.m.
For more information or to register, contact Lorrie Lewandowski at
419-354-9010, ext. 113 or by e-mail at llewandowski@wcesc.org.
You
also can find more information and register by visiting www.parentproject.com and
click on “find a class in your area” in the top right-hand corner.
