mojatu .com
18 Community
THE POWER OF PARENTING: HOW FAMILY
BONDS CAN PREVENT VIOLENCE
By Cassidy Parker
In a little South African town, positive parenting
programmes are changing a whole community.
Comprising just 800 families, Touwsranten in South
Africa’s Western Cape province is the only place in
the world in which every programme included in
the Parenting for Lifelong Health initiative has been
implemented.
Collaboratively developed by the World Health
Organisation, the United Nations Children’s Emergency
Fund (UNICEF), and a number of universities in South Africa
and the United Kingdom, the programmes aim to prevent
violence by equipping parents with the tools necessary to
form close and loving bonds with their children. ‘Over the years, we realised that the behaviour that we were
teaching children in the after-school programme wasn’t
being reinforced at home,’ says Wilmi Dippenaar, director
of Seven Passes. ‘The violent behaviour the children were
displaying – the way they screamed and swore at each
other – was behaviour they were seeing elsewhere.’
Extensive research has shown that children who grow up
in a non-violent environment with positive emotional
engagement and cognitive stimulation are more likely
to succeed at school, find stable employment and form
healthy adult relationships. They’re also less likely to
suffer from anxiety and depression, abuse alcohol and
other substances, engage in risky sexual behaviour or
become involved in crime and violence. In 2012, the first of several community-wide parenting
surveys was conducted by Chandré Gould, senior
research fellow at the Institute for Security Studies,
and Catherine Ward, professor in the Department of
Psychology at the University of Cape Town.
Seven Passes’ parenting initiative includes four
programmes: one for new parents, from 36 weeks of
pregnancy to six months after birth; one for parents
and caregivers of two- to nine-year-olds; one for the
parents and caregivers of teenagers; and a book-
sharing programme. The programmes run once a week
for two to three months at a time and are open to any
interested parents in and around Touwsranten.
Children who grow up in a non-violent environment
are less likely to become involved in crime
The parenting initiative was born out of Seven Passes’ after-
school programme, which since 2007 has provided the
town’s children with a safe and supportive environment in
which to complete their homework every day.
The survey found that spanking, slapping, stress,
parental mental health and intimate partner violence
in Touwsranten affected children’s behaviour. This was
evident in their experiences of anxiety and depression,
and often manifested as aggression and violence.
As a result, the parenting initiative kicked off, striving
to eliminate violence in the home. ‘Most of the people
in the community believe in corporal punishment,’ says
parenting facilitator Roslynn Wehr-Damons. ‘That’s a
big part of what we’re trying to change.’
The programmes encourage parents to spend quality
time with their children, to praise them for positive
behaviour, to involve them in decision making, to
use cool-down strategies when tempers flare, to
communicate effectively, and to make sure children
feel as though their emotions are valid.
Melissa Fisher had been struggling with her 10-year-
old son Cullin when Seven Passes’ parenting facilitators
came door to door offering assistance. ‘I was yelling
and screaming at him all the time,’ she recalls, ‘and I
realised I needed help.’
'It was like having a weapon that I didn't know how
to use,' says Melissa. 'And they trained me how to use
this weapon that I have. It was amazing. It gave me a
sense of purpose. It taught me how to handle things
in a positive way.'