Explosion in child issues get parents interested in parenting courses |04 November 2017

In a bid to foster greater parent-children relationships, more and more organisations are conducting parenting courses locally.

This hype in parenting has also created a proliferation of information related to children and other support programmes either online or through other media.

“Society is more open about the subject and people are eager to learn more,” states Reuben Lavigne, a counsellor at the National Council for Children (NCC).

While in the old days, parents relied heavily on grandparents, this support system has changed and with families made up mainly of single parents, many rely on their parenting styles to bring out the best in their children.

Furthermore, current challenges such as exposure to the internet has dramatically changed parenting to total impotence for some or a more westernized style for others, where being friends with one’s child is the norm.

Although there is no right and wrong in parenting, Mr Lavigne says this is also a learning process, which is facilitated through parenting workshops or courses.

“This may be the only time parents can sit and learn not only from our experts but also from each other.”

He adds that following parenting sessions, there are many participants who remain friends and exchange information that are vital tools to their successes as parents.

Although few statistics are available on the number of programmes being held locally or how many parents are involved, one barometer that could be used is that of the NCC.

The non-governmental organisation has been coordinating parenting courses for many years in order to provide skills and support for families.

Many of the participants are young parents or expectant parents who “seem more comfortable with the idea of taking courses to learn new skills”, but Mr Lavigne hopes to see more efforts to reach a wider audience.

“Many of the parents who go to these things need it least, since they're already motivated and concerned about their kids,” he said.

Parenting courses are available upon demand on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue and interested participants can contact 4283900 for further enquiries.

Contributed by NCC