A Program To Create Stronger Families

By Susan Coney

Cher Shannon, administrator for the Strengthening Families program, was delighted with the community response the program received after the initial session was completed this past spring. The Strengthening Families program is literally designed to do just that, to strengthen communication in families.

“It is a prevention program aimed at a particular age base targeting fifth and sixth graders. The program is designed to help make strong families stronger and help families with concerns or communication issues handle them in a positive way,” Ms Shannon said. “It helps to prepare parents and kids for middle school. It is a good fit for Newtown,” she added.

The program, which began on April 27 and ran for seven consecutive weeks, was the result of a community effort to help improve family communication skills before problems arise. The Strengthening Families program was run through the combined efforts and cooperation of the school district, Newtown Youth Services, The Family Counseling Center of Newtown, and the Newtown Prevention Council.

According to Ms Shannon, the program is based on solid principals. “The program has been shown to significantly reduce the chances of problematic behavior, as well as contributing to significantly lower incidents of substance abuse. In addition it has been shown to increase the amount of quality time families spend with one another,” she said.

Five families participated in the first series of the program. “The wonderful thing was that we always had the parents and kids returning week after week. We always had about 20 people attending,” Ms Shannon commented.

The sessions lasted two hours and were run by three trained facilitators — one for the parents and two for the young people. In the first portion of the session, the parents viewed informational videos and participated in discussions while the children interacted in activities. Both the parents and the children focused on the same topic for each session. Each week built upon topics covered in previous weeks handling issues such as stress, communication, listening skills, and peer pressure.

The participants took a break for dinner midway through the two-hour session, where families shared food donated by My Place Restaurant. Ms Shannon could not say enough about how appreciative she was to My Place for their overwhelming generosity, which helped contribute to the success of the program. “They donated so much fabulous food. They were so good to us. It gave the parents a break and extra time, so that they didn’t have to worry about how they were going to get dinner taken care of that night,” she said.

After dinner the entire group of parents and children met to discuss the night’s topic or to work on an activity together. The group, with the assistance of the facilitators, participated in role-playing, interactive discussions, and hands on projects. One such project the families completed had an enormous impact on everyone involved. The task was to design a family tree. Each family met, designed the tree and who would be included on it. The leaves attached to the tree reflected the strengths of that particular person. A strengths-based tree was completed in one session. The family’s took great pride in their family trees and shared them with each other. Each family then had a wonderful memento to keep.

“After 20 some years in this line of work, the results of this program were stunning. I was surprised. It was terrific. I wish every single family could go through the program,” she said. “Some components were really touching, kids learned empathy for their parents, families developed communication and listening skills, and it was fun. We had dinner together and there were no interruptions. It was a time when they can totally focus and really get to know each other,” Ms Shannon added.

Upon completion of the program participants completed reflections on what they had learned. Parents listed among other things that they did not realize how much stress their children faced on a daily basis. They also learned the value of developing greater listening skills as well as having a cooling down period when emotions flair. The children gained a better insight as to the challenges their parents face.

With such a successful outcome the Strengthening Families program will again be scheduled to run this coming fall. The entire program is free to all Newtown families who have children entering the fifth or sixth grade. More information on the fall schedule will be announced at a later date.