When parents whose children attend Edison Elementary School need some support, they can find it at Parent University, a program started last year by the school’s two counselors, Terri Mitchell and Bobbi Bray.
The two said they started the program when they saw a need among some of the parents of Edison students.
“They don’t give you a handbook on how to be a parent or how to be a better parent. It’s hard to be a parent. They (parents) are searching out ideas. We felt a need for that in our school to help them,” Mitchell said of the origins of the program.
So, with the blessing of Principal Jenny Langston, Parent University opened its doors. Bray and Mitchell hold informal sessions once a month where they discuss various parenting topics. They provide the doughnuts for attendees, who usually range from one parent to as many as eight.
Topics they have covered or would like to cover include handling holiday stress, what bullying is, managing conflicts, discipline versus punishment, and yelling versus screaming. An upcoming session called phony brains will explore the effect of cellphones, they said.
“When they are babies, we give them phones to entertain them. Now it’s hard to hold their attention,” Mitchell said.
While the sessions are designed to impart information — parents are given handouts with additional links so they can do more research — the real value is in building relationships among the counselors and parents.
“It is a time for parents to vent and give them information they haven’t had,” Bray said. “One mother came several times. We get a rapport with those who do come.”
“We are giving them the tools they need to be a parent,” Mitchell said. “They feel comfortable coming to school and to us. It’s a safe place. It builds rapport. It’s a no-stress situation. They come in and just talk.”
Bray and Mitchell said oftentimes, parents only come to school when their child is in trouble. The counselors build relationships with the parents who come to the sessions, so if a situation does arise with their child, they are more at ease, they said.
Bray and Mitchell try to choose topics that will be helpful to parents, such as what tasks are appropriate for children of a certain age or how to communicate with their child.
“Try to say ‘I need you to do this.’ Talk to them and give them confidence without beating them down,” Bray said.
As the two talk about the program, ideas fly about new topics to cover: communicating with teachers, dress code information, child development, basic parenting styles and techniques, and perhaps nutrition. Teaching parenting classes is not new to Bray, who offered such classes at Jackson County Health Department.
“When you start something, you never know what to expect,” Mitchell said. “To me, it has big rewards. I think parents are eager to do better.”
The next Parent University is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 13.