International Day of Families

Conference Room 4, UNHQ Thursday, May 18

In observance of the International Day of Families, the United Nations Division for Social Policy and Development, in partnership with the Department of Public Information NGO Relations, co-organized one of the best discussions of the year, “Families, Education, and Well-Being.“ It targeted a much needed area of world interest – families and our inter-connectedness. An experienced panel addressed various elements in parenting and childhood education. It was emphasized that early education – pre to 3 – is vital. Parents need to be very aware of this as a child learns everything during these years. The challenges that parents face in bringing up a child in today’s fast moving and high tech world were addressed. Juggling with work, social life, and raising a family was also discussed with the aim of offering solutions. Parent – teacher relationship was one of the important factors that help with the emotional balance in children. Since parents themselves have their own personal challenges, it was good to know that there are countries that offer free counseling services. There are also companies that support parental leave in some countries, such as Argentina.

Some tips that help foster parent – child relationship include parents spending time to love and talk to each other, skills like patience, love, and understanding need to be nurtured, safe spaces are required for the physical, emotional, financial, and intellectual development of the child.

Another hugh area of concern is the impact that media has on children. How much should parents ‘control’ their children? This is always a delicate area as children learn a lot by watching the adults around them. It was suggested that parents co-watch chosen TV shows with their children and talk about what they are seeing. I really liked the idea of having a ‘device-free zone or times’ in the home. This helps for other forms of communication to take place which allows for deeper bonding. Like the old saying that goes: A family that eats/prays together, stays together.

A few pre-cautions that surfaced can be quite note-worthy – ‘background TV’ has a negative impact on children, a lack of spirituality in the home can lead to juvenile delinquency. However, we were told that not all media affect children in the same way. Parents can achieve anything they set out to do. They have the power to bring about change!

I invite you to watch the event here