Parenting rights (and wrongs)

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Parenting rights (and wrongs)

WRITTEN BY Bandana Jain

January 26, 2009, DUBAI - Over a hundred Dubai parents gathered at the Indian Consulate last week to attend the Positive Parenting Workshop conducted by Puneet Rathi. Besieged with common problems related to adolescence and teenage, parents looked up to Puneet Rathi for advice and practical solutions to their seemingly never-ending dilemmas. A certified Parent Coach and founder of Atmachetna, Puneet Rathi has over 17 years of experience in the area of Human Resources & Improvement Consulting. He has also conducted similar parenting workshops in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, India and Singapore. Adolescence and teenage issues Managing adolescent and teenage behaviour seems to be a Herculean task for most parents today. With behavioural problems like disrespect and talking back, homework battles, whining and complaining, spending more time with friends, parenting has become more daunting than a pleasurable task. In majority of the cases, the culprit is the media that causes communication gap between parents and the children, explained Puneet Rathi, discussing the presentday scenario of family life. With his Positive Parenting Workshop, Puneet Rathi aimed at making parents aware of various parenting styles and the advantages and disadvantages of the same and how Positive Parenting concepts, if applied, could bring much desired happiness to both parents and their wards. Puneet added, We give the parents ideas on some basic methods to manage parenting as an enjoyable journey rather than making it a painful process, thus building mutual trust and healthy relationship in the family. Our workshop is just a beginning and not an end in itself. We try to help parents ask themselves relevant questions and devise a plan best suited to their family. The ultimate motto of these workshops is about creating positive environment at home with an idea of raising happy families. Going by the saying, Children learn what they live, Puneet stressed on the right behaviour pattern of the parents, thus instigating them to be role models for their children so that they emulate the right values. Positive parenting is warm, nurturing and encouraging while enforcing the rules and limits. It involves high expectations, high respect and high nurture. Positive parents set rules and boundaries and provide limits, while giving higher independence, he points out. In a nutshell, positive parents have the following three characteristics1.Nurture with love, care and affection; 2.Discipline by setting and enforcing the rules and

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1/29/2009

Parenting rights (and wrongs)

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3.Respect childs beliefs and opinions. According to Puneet, children raised by positive parents do well at school, are respectful to others, have less chances of depression and engaging in risky behaviour and are well- equipped to deal with conflicts. A few simple strategies to make the idea of positive parenting much simpler: 1.Express love. Display physical affection; go easy on hugs and kisses. 2.Give frequent, quality time. 3.Engage the kids in age-appropriate, creative and exploratory activities. 4.Avoid criticism and harsh language. 5.Peer effect is automatically weakened when there is a closeknit relationship between the parents and the children. 6.There should be open lines of communication between the children and the parents. The more often the talks occur between the two, the closer the kids are to their parents. The kids can also be asked to give their say on a family matter. 7.Dinner time should be used to unwind, reinforce and bonding between the family members. 8.Use positive strategies like praising, encouragement and physical bonding to let him know that he is loved and accepted. 9.Be patient and tolerant. Be an active listener to their talks. Effective communication can be fostered by parents by sharing their thoughts with the children, initiating conversations, using positive body language and taking responsibility for ones actions. Puneet underlines that the best supportive gifts that a parent can give to his child are love, control, security and acceptance, faith and guidance.

Mission behind Atmachetna Moved by the rising number of suicide rates amongst children and wanting to work on reducing pressure on the kids, Puneet started an organization named 'Atmachetna' (meaning 'self awakening') in the year 2007. Puneet says, It was a self awakening indeed, wherein I started working for a bigger cause than merely continuing as a leader in the corporate world. With 'Atmachetna', I aim to help the parents to seek their answers through introspection, which is done through a series of dialogue in workshops, conferences and seminars. When asked about his ideology behind 'Atmachetna', Puneet described the fundamentals governing the same. Firstly, we must acknowledge that all children are multi-talented and unique each with his own strengths and positive aspects, which can be nurtured to shape them into well-rounded individuals. Secondly, the society at large should play a positive role in nurturing the brand new generation, with lesser stress and more happiness in their hearts. My vision is to create a training institute to develop more trainers and coaches on parenting. Having received good response from South East Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, we intend to cover more countries in the Middle East. We find lot of similarities in the parenting issues in Asia region, as a whole. 'Atmachetna' is our passion; we want to make positive changes in family lives by spreading more happiness and

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Parenting rights (and wrongs)

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love..

Signature tips from Puneet Rathi on Positive Parenting Create a safe, secure and loving environment for kids to thrive in Create a positive learning environment at home Have reasonable expectations from kids Mind your own behaviour- kids tend to copy your behaviour Consistency is important in following the rules Develop a sense of mutual trust and respect Encourage frequent and positive communication

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1/29/2009