On March 5, 2011, the UBHCHY Coalition held its first Parent Chat at the family home of UBHCHY Chairman, Ray Fox. Fifteen Quakertown community parents attended with their middle school daughters. Lee Rush, UBHCHY’s Community Mobilizer facilitated the evening’s discussion. The three emerging themes for the evening were:
- How to balance multiple activities and home life
- Adolescent dating
- Social Media use- Facebook, MySpace, etc.
The balance of multiple activities was a priority issue with this group because each family had daughters involved in a variety of activities including sports, church, clubs and school activities. A common area of interest was determining when parents should realize “enough is enough” and say no their child’s requests. The key issue was how to balance many activities and still have quality family time.
The next issue discussed was dating. While many of the parents said their daughters were not yet involved in dating, everyone agreed that of course they might be in the future. Parents talked about their ideas and beliefs around dating, as well as suggested guidelines and expectations. Some parents had older teenagers who had already encountered dating and these parents shared how they handled it with their older children. It was an enlightening and lively discussion.
Lastly, the issue of technology was raised. It was learned that not every teenager has a cell phone! As technology of all types is increasingly present in all of our lives, especially in our kid’s lives, parents shared that some of their daughters owned cell phone while other parents felt the girls were still too young. The discussion also included the issue of texting, the use and safety of Facebook and the internet in general.
One of the best things about a Parent Chat is that everyone had a chance to share their thoughts without judgment by others. Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to discuss important topics about parenting in a safe environment. Host Ray Fox said afterwards, “It was refreshing to know that everyone has similar issues and concerns. Talking about these issues and hearing the approaches of other parents give a lot of support and comfort.”
If you would be interested in hosting or attending a Parent Chat, please contact UBHCHY Parent Education, Judi Pason at judi.pason@gmail.com