Help your kids make good choices
Do you wonder how well equipped the kids in your life are to make good decisions particularly when it really counts?
They have to make choices on a daily basis. And these decisions are increasingly complex.
Our kids have to face and deal with issues such as:
• Bullying
• Peer pressure
• Feelings of anger and frustration
• Alcohol and drugs, such as P
Sometimes poor decisions are easier choices.
• It can be easier to tell lies than face the consequences
• Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs is easier than confessing that you have taken them and need a lift
• It can be easier to fit in even if it means showing off or underperforming at school to do so
Sometimes good decisions are hard decisions. It can mean:
• Not being part of the in group (feeling inferior, not good enough)
• Facing consequences and being held accountable for our actions
In this age of technology kids are bombarded by choices that we as parents, grandparents and caregivers did not have to face.
Around 2/3 of New Zealands adolescents have a BEBO site (or its equivalent). Although this can be a great way for kids to share music and connect with other kids there are risks. In addition to explicit language, themes and photos, our children can face bullying, other forms of abuse and there are on-line predators.
Most of us work hard to give our children good values. Most of us work hard to teach our children to make good choices. We know that our children will test limits, and we know that they will slip up from time to time. However, the opportunity to make big mistakes, that can change the course of our kids lives, is increasing.
Ron Phillips has worked with children, adolescents and their families for the past 40 years. He has developed a storytelling technique that enables all ages to understand how the decisions they make directly result from how they feel. It works particularly well as a story read aloud to a group of kids, for example a parent reading and discussing the story with their children.
The story Gem of the First Water is a fable, similar in genre to Lord of the Rings. It is the story of a boy journeying through a land of confusion where he encounters many obstacles that depict everyday issues. The story has a series of questions that require our kids to think about what they would do in a similar situation.
Because kids dont have to talk about themselves they engage in the story, readily translate the boys dilemmas and choices into their own situation, discuss the choices he has and give the boy advice about what to do. The choices are not easy they are challenging but they help to teach kids to identify the options and how to make good choices.
The story can be used in different ways:
• With our families
• As prevention by school teachers with classes of intermediate and junior high school students to strengthen kids' decision-making and confidence to do the right thing
• As early intervention by school guidance counsellors and social workers, with kids identified as starting on a track of habitually making bad choices and decisions
• As therapy by mental health professionals with kids tumbling out of control
The Rotary Club of Ellerslie Sunrise Inc has partnered with Ron Phillips to develop a family kit based around the story Gem of the First Water. Each chapter takes about one hour for parents to read aloud and discuss with their children; some children may prefer to read each chapter then discuss it. The author has also recorded the story on CD, a talking book.
This family kit The Gem Inside helping your kids make good choices can be used by two parent and single parent families. The discussion about the story is led by the parent/s, enabling a familys own values and culture to be discussed.
The family kit The Gem Inside helping your kids make good choices costs $175 per kit including GST and shipping (within New Zealand).
The kit contains:
• Introduction DVD
• Gem of the First Water book
• Story Guide Book for Parents
• Gem of the First Water talking book on five CDs
• Story Guide Book for Parents on two DVDs
You can purchase the Family Kit on line by clicking on the order form at the foot of this page. Or click on 1 above and print an information leaflet that has an order form attached.
Rotary is a worldwide organisation of individuals who give voluntary time to make a positive difference in their communities. We are proud to be working with Ron Phillips and Therapeutic Storytelling Intervention International Ltd to make available for parents a resource they can use in their own homes to teach their kids how to make good choices now and into the future. The Gem Inside helping your kids make good choices can make a positive difference for families and our communities.
Karen Holland
Director Community Committee (2007/08)
Rotary Club of Ellerslie Sunrise Incorporated
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9:29Boy Advice + My Heartbreak Storyby littlepinky10113,072 views
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