FORMATION OF FAMILY COUNCIL

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30610, 28 November 1964, Page 2

FORMATION OF FAMILY COUNCIL

The first steps towards establishing the Canterbury Family Life Education Council were taken in Christchurch on Thursday evening, when about 50 men and women from interested organisations formed a committee to arrange a widely representative meeting to formally set up a council. A similar council has already been founded in Wellington, with the support of more than 30 organisations, and another is in the process of formation in Auckland.

The initial meeting was called by the Christchurch Parents’ Centre in its concern to avoid overlapping by the many organisations working for the good of the family in some particular field, said the chairman of the meeting, Mr D. G. Rogers, who is also chairman of the parents’ centre.

The idea of such a council did not mean that there was a weakness in the field of voluntary work for family life, said Dr. P. J. Lawrence, a reader in education, University of Canterbury. The need was for a council to stimulate the efforts of all the organisations.

Strong Start

“Such a council would start from a position of strength,” he said, “We have a number of first-rate organisations which have been working in this field for many years and have done extraordinarily good work.” The council would enable them to pool their resources, to study the family as a whole and do their work more effectively. Help could be given on the grounds that the problems of one member of the family were usually tied up with the whole family pattern. Dr. Lawrence said he en-

visaged the council running courses for professional people who dealt with the problems of families.

Marriage Guidance Support Mr N. H. Buchanan, chairman of the Christchurch Marriage Guidance Council, outlined the work of his organisation—its counselling service for men and women whose marriages were heading for a break, lectures for engaged couples (these had been running for 16 years) and its training programme for counsellors. But the council could not cover all the work necessary in the field of family life education. Mrs Helen Holmes told of the work she and a group of women were doing in giving talks at schools, mainly to girls’ secondary schools, on “growing up.” The girls were given the opportunity to ask questions and express their feelings. The emphasis was on relationships and attitudes. The group also gave talks to parents and family groups and it had received the utmost co-operation from the Education Department The work was, however, only a small part of family life education, said Mrs Holmes. Research

A co-ordinated council could do research into the pattern of New Zealand family life, show New Zealand films on the subject and make literature available, such as a digest of family life, said Mrs R. S. Royds, of the Canterbury Play Centres’ Association. It could bring world renowned authorities in the field to tell members about work being done overseas. A committee was set up to prepare a statement on the establishment of a council in Christchurch and to arrange a widely representative meeting for its formation.

Committee

The following were appointed to the committee:—Mr D. G. Rogers (convener), Dr. Elizabeth Glennie, Mesdames Davina Gill, Phyllis Zeff, Helen Holmes and Nancy Sutherland, Dr. P. J. Lawrence, Messrs N. H. Buchanan and A. B. Allen. The committee was given power to co-opt.