2017 Make One Change Campaign : The Countdown is on !!!
The Parent Hub Donegal’s 2017 “Make One Change Campaign” will close to entrants next Friday 27th January. Information about this years’ campaign was sent out to schools around the county and leaflets are available in local Family Resource Centres across the county as well as on this website and www.facebook/Parenthubdonegal
This is the fourth year of the Campaign and over the years it has gone from strength to strength. The Make One Change Campaign challenges families to make a New Year’s Resolution that improves family life. Changes made by families in the past include families committing to eat a meal together, going for regular walks together, having family film nights, games nights or going out on day trips. Some families committed to trying to manage stress at home differently by shouting less or taking time out.
Each year all those who send in their agreed change are entered into a free draw with family friendly prizes galore that have been donated by businesses across the county. There are Family passes to Century Cinema, a three month membership for Aura, Vouchers for Letterkenny Activity Centre, Lough Eske, Eclipse Cinema and Arena Seven amongst this years prozes. The Parenthub are indebted to all our very kind sponsors.
The Make One Change leaflet also features Key Messages for Parents as well as a section “Help Us Help You”. The three Key Messages being promoted are taken from seven general messages for all parents that are being endorsed through http://www.tusla.ie/parenting-24-seven The messages focused in this campaign are “The Parent Child Relationship is Key”, “Positive Parenting Works” and Buy Well, Eat Well Be Well”. The Parent Hub will be promoting other Key messages throughout 2017.
The Parent Hub launched its Website in 2016 and the Hub are now very interested to find out from parents in Donegal what information and help they feel they need access to in order to support them on their parenting journey. Parents are asked to fill in what they would see as the three priority areas about which they need information and help. While Donegal parents face many of the same issues as parents across Ireland there are some issues that are particular to living in a rural area and the Parent Hub want to hear voices of local parents so that we have a clear understanding of the challenges they face and also to ensure the Parent Hub Website can be tailored to meet the needs of parents in Donegal.
All Make One Change leaflets can be returned to Nicola Harvey, County Clinic, St. Conal’s Letterkenny or parents can email their change for 2017 as well as the three priority areas to Nicolac.harvey@tusla.ie. Closing date is 27th January 2017.
So come on Donegal…Its not too late to Make One Change!
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Safer Internet Day takes place next Tuesday, 7th February 2023. Sadly more than 1 in 4 young people in Ireland have experienced cyberbullying, yet only 60% of victims tell their parents. As teenagers and children spend more time on the internet, ensuring it's a safe space is ever more important. To encourage conversation about life online and help parents keep their children safe, I'd like to share a free resource created by Switcher.ie. It's a comprehensive guide which includes things like:
I thought it may be useful to share the link to the guide - https://switcher.ie/broadband/guides/how-to-keep-your-children-safe-online/ - which you can include on your website ahead of Safer Internet Day, to help parents and children who may need some extra support. We've also put together some handy top tips you can use on your website: 10 tips to keep your children safe online
- How to reduce the risks online
- How to recognise cyber bullying and grooming
- How to educate children on cyber safety
- How to set up parental controls on devices
- Talk about it:Make time to chat about online risks and how to use the internet safelyas soon as they're old enough to go online. Encourage your children to speak to you about what they view online and empower them to act if they're worried about anything.
- Recognise the risks: Educate yourself about the potential dangers children could face online so it’s easier to spot warning signs. Get to know what platforms your children use, and learn about dangers such as phishing, grooming and cyberbullying.
- Teach the do's and don'ts: Be clear about the non-negotiables. For example, teach your child not to share personal details or photos with strangers and instruct them not to click on links to unknown websites or texts. Do encourage your child to question what they see and only accept friend requests from people they know.
- Spot the signs: Pay attention to your children's behaviour whilst on and off their devices. Being alert to changes in your child can help prevent problems from escalating. Some warning signs are withdrawing from friends or family, sleeping and eating problems or losing interest in previously loved hobbies or interests.
- Set boundaries:Let your children know what they can and can't do on the internet from the get-go. Agree on what devices they can use, when, and how long they can spend online. As they get older, explaining and negotiating boundaries may be more effective.
- Take 'parental' control: These ready-made boundaries put parents in control of what children can see online. They can be set up through your internet provider at device level to block specific websites and filter out inappropriate content.
- Be social media savvy: The popularity of social media apps like TikTok and Snapchat makes it harder to keep track of what your child is accessing online. Fortunately, each social media platform has its own privacy settings and safety tips for parents. Check them out before you let children have their own accounts.
- Protect from harm:Install antivirus software on family devices to minimise the risk of cyber attacks or scams. Use two-factor authentication (2FA) for extra security on your online accounts. This can also stop children from signing into services they're not allowed to use.
- Set a great example: You're the greatest 'influencer' in your children's lives when they're young. Limiting your time online, discussing dangers you've come across, and questioning what you view can help reinforce the rules you are setting for your children and, in turn, influence their online behaviour.
- Seek support:The more you learn about online dangers, the better equipped you'll be to handle them. There are some great resources like webwise.ie, internetmatters.organd cybersafekids.ie to help you recognise and reduce online dangers and seek advice if you think your child is experiencing cyberbullying or is at risk online.
Infant Mental Health Awareness Week runs from June 13th-19th.
This week provides an opportunity to focus attention on the wellbeing, social and emotional development of our babies and young children. It highlights the importance of early relationships and a relationship based approach to interventions with infants and families. As our understanding of IMH and its evidence base develops, so also does our knowledge of how to apply this knowledge and an ‘IMH lens’ to interactions with infants, parents and caregivers in health and social services.
What is infant mental health?
Infant Mental health (IMH) refers to the healthy social and emotional development of Infants starting at conception up to three years of age.
The first 1000 days of life are recognised as a critical period of opportunity to support infant mental health. Decades of research have shown that it is the quality of the early caregiver relationship that is a significant determinant of the infant’s healthy social and emotional development and in turn physical health, right up to adulthood.
The National Healthy Childhood Programme has embedded IMH as the foundation of the development of its resources and in the approach of the delivery of the universal child health service. This embedding of key messages can be seen in the My Child suite of books (www.mychild.ie/books) and also on www.MyChild.ie where key messages around bonding and relationship building have been embedded for the parent/caregiver.
In clinical practice the topic of IMH has been included for the first time in the National Standardised Child Health Record. To build on this, the National Healthy Childhood Programme have just completed a suite of three eLearning units which are now available on HSEland for healthcare practitioners / caregivers who are working with children and families.
Throughout the week you will see videos and key IMH messaging being promoted on the HSE MyChild social media pages ( Facebook / Instagram ). Keep an eye out in the National Newspapers for articles from our experts also. (IrishTimes article)
In addition The National Healthy Childhood Programme have developed a series of ten practical videos with HSE expert advice which are now available on YouTube and on the relevant pages on the www.mychild.ie website.
These videos (2-3 minutes each) are aimed at parents/guardians of children (0 – 3 years).
These new video resources are available here while lots more expert advice for every step of pregnancy, baby and toddler health can also be found at www.mychild.ie
There are a suite of posters available focusing on the promotion of IMH messaging to order from healthy.childhood@hse.ie
