Tough Love could help you and your teenager

Press, 7 March 1988, Page 10

Tough Love could help you and your teenager

Making it happen

A new support group for parents who can't cope with their teenagers begins jin Christchurch next month. Calledi Tough Love it is for those who have tried all the jusual jsources of help arid are! still torn apart by unacceptable teenage behaviour. “The j programme doesn’t aim to punish or blame, but to make it clear j to j teenagers, through itheir parents, that if they choose to behave in an anti-social way, they must take responsibility for the consequences,” explains [Jocelyn Wilson, who is setting up the group, j Jocelyn is the co-ordi-qator of Presbyterian Support Services! Child and Family;Unit. ! The effectiveness of the approach is j graphically shown jin the case of a teenage girl who was a persistent shoplifter. At each call from the police her parents would rush to the station with the family solicitor to try to bail her out. Finally, the parents were able to tell their daughter that they weren’t prepared to do this any more; that if she was going to shoplift she'd have to cope with the consequences alone. The offences stopped.

The! idea is that with the support of others facing similar difficulties, parents can learn to set down ’ firm guidelines about ! how the home and family can be used. Tough Love, modelled on an American concept, starts! on Tuesday, April 19, from 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. at Support’s premises at 236! Hereford Street. It will be an on-going group and parents can join or leave at any stage of the year. Support is expecting it to be popular. Support, offers a wide range of help services for families in conflict, ranging from long-term foster care to a drama group for teenagers. A j short-term foster scheme has recently started to give “time out” to families under stress.

evening. This aims to help parents enjoy being parents! | i For more information about these groups phone Jocelyn Wilson or Barbija Dyer at Presbyterian Support Services at 65-472. i Women’s and ' men’s sexuality courses Talking to your children about sexuality isn’t always easy. The Family Planning Association’s education unit is holding a workshop next week to help parents better cornmunicate to their children in this area. j This will look! at appropriate guidance, provide accurate information and develop communication skills. It will be held On March 14, from 9.30 a.m. until 11.30 a.rn. A 1 workshop bn Women’s Sexuality, focusing on ideas and attitudes as well as our physical, emotional, social arid spiritual understanding jof ourselves will ; be held next Wednesday, March 16, at the .same time, j! Later in the year the education unit plans ■j a Men’s Sexuality weekend, looking at male roles, behaviour and expectations in relationships. Enrolgme'nts are being taken now for this useful course. A pre-Menstrual Syndrome/Menstrual Tension workshop will ibe held next Tuesday, March 15, from 9.30 a.m. until 11.30 a.m. This is a positive approach to dur cycles. It will be repeated in the evening from 7,-30 p.m. A Menopause workshop will be held at the sarne

The Teenage Support Group, starting Tuesday everiing, March 22, uses mim'e, improvisation, fantasy j and creative drama to help teenagers overcome communication difficulties, build their selfesteem and develop confidence. A| Support Group for Parents with children of any! age is again being offered, hopefully during the j day as well as in the

times on Thursday, March 17

All these workshops, except the men’s week-end, cost $B, and are held in the education room of the Family Planning Clinic at 301 Montreal Street. To enrol phone 790-514, ext. 826. These courses are held each term.

Working Women’s Day

Tomorrow, March 8, is International Working Women’s Day and to celebrate, the women's committee of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions is holding a special evening. This will be in the. supper room of the Trades Union Centre on the corner of Armagh and Madras Streets, starting at 7 p.m. A panel of women active in the trade union movement for a long time will discuss developments — or regressions — in conditions for working women.

They are Elsie Locke, Mary Harrison, Daisy Thompson and Shelagh Docherty.

The role of the N.Z.C.T.S.’s women’s committee and its place in the trade union organisation will be outlined, and ways of furthering the interests of working Christchurch women discussed. All women are invited to attend this lively function. Supper will be served and there will be live entertainment from women musicians.

All queries can be phoned to Susan at 515505.

Death and the elderly The Approach to Death is the subject of a talk to be given at the annual general meeting of the Nurses’ Association’s Gerontological Interest Group next Wednesday, March 16. The speaker will be Dr Tim Ewer, a geriatrician at the Day Hospital at The Princess Margaret Hospital. Registered and enrolled nurses, hospital aides and others caring for the elderly are invited to this talk, which begins at 7.30 p.m. following the 7 p.m. meeting. The meeting will be held at the Day Hospital of The Princess Margaret Hospital. For more information phone Margaret at 859-439. W.E.A. Learning Exchange The Workers’ Educational Association’s Learning Exchange is a telephone referral service for those wanting tuition in certain subjects, either individual or in a small group. It costs nothing to phone in for the names of tutors in a wide variety of skills — from arts and crafts to music, languages and school subjects. Fees and expenses — if any — are negotiated between the tutor and pupil. The number to phone is 60-285. Handicraft course A; modular handicraft course for people of all ages begins at Hagley High School today. A wide variety of crafts will be taught, including enamelling, pewter casting, jewellery making, tool construction, stencill-

ing and scollwork, leatherwork, and three levels of stained glass work. j Although essentially a practical course, time will be given to design procedure and small business study for students who want to market their own products. | Originally the course was for school leavers, put has been opened to all because of the interest Shown. j The 40 modules are designed for people with different amounts of time. Some may choose to attend full time, while others can only give a few hours a week. For more information about the course phone the tutor, Alan Johnson, at 884-302. For enrolments phone Joan Hazlehurst at 793-090. Home birth The Canterbury Home Birth Support Group is celebrating its first anniversary with an open meeting this Thursday, March 10. Celeste McCoy, a domiciliary midwife, will play tapes of the first international conference of home births, which was held in London late last year. Celeste was at the conference and is looking forward to 'discussing international issues for the various home birth movements throughout the world. Anyone interested in home births is invited to the meeting, which will be held upstairs at 301 Montreal Street, starting at 7.30 p.m. For further information about the group phone Sarah at 898-281. Over-eating Over-eaters often feel very isolated and helpless

as they desperately lurch from one diet to another or embark on exercises made doubly difficult by their excess weight A new group is starting in Christchurch for women who want to make a positive start to control their overeating.' There will be; no pills, no fixed diet or calorie counts and no compulsory sweaty exercises. Instead, the focus will be on unding habits and! learning to distinguish emotional needs from hunger. Charges will be kept low and the emphasis will be on self help. Those interested can write to Weight Loss, c/o The Health Alternatives for Women, Box 884, Christchurch. Barnardo’s need volunteers Volunteer workers with skills in gardening, driving, reception duties, child care, maintenance, administration, office skills, and fundraising are needed by Barnardo’s. j Barnardo’s now has 25 volunteers, but hopes to double this number. The organisation works with children and families, i Those interested in making the commitment will be invited To a meeting later in the month to meet existing ! volunteers and discuss the work. ! In the meantime, anyone interested' is asked to contact Kathleen or Lorraine at 891-164, between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Children’s music classes Genny Gray, a popular teacher of pre-school music sessions, is extending her classes to older children, mainly the five to seven-year-olds. Children will learn to play the recorder, read music, appreciate a wide range of music, be introduced to orchestral instruments and gain a sense of rhythm and pitch. Genny is hoping to keep each class down to five children and would like to run the classes on Tuesday afternoons, although this is flexible. Her charges are $5 for a halfhour session. For more information phone Genny! at 39-838. Compiled by GLENYS WALKER. 1 Items for this column should be sent, one week in advance of publication, to Glenys Walker, "Making It Happen,” Home and People Page, “The Press,”, Private Bag, Christchurch. Items arriving late cannot be included.