THE Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of Ardenne High School and Maverick Communications Ltd are staging a workshop this weekend to guide parents in handling the emotional and physical changes in their children as they experience puberty.

It is set for Saturday, February 23 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at the school, and will be executed under the theme: ‘Parenting Children through ‘Puberty: Achieving Positive Outcomes’.

For Ardenne, the venture is worthwhile since it will foster good parenting — which is key to the growth and development of young children.

“The executive agreed that as a collective body and as a school family the situation of poor parenting should be tackled — which too often is manifested in the classroom as negative behaviour. It gets more difficult when the teenage years begin and our children need us even more to help them find their way and their voice. It can make us feel disappointed when we are not parenting right,” said Mitsie Harris Dillon, president of the PTA.

“Parenting is an awesome duty and a pleasure, and we thought this workshop would give a much-needed opportunity to engage in conversation with parents and share tips and success stories that will help us build the type of relationship with our children that will strengthen bonds and build rapport and respect,” she added.

Melody Cammock-Gayle of Maverick Communications explained that while there is no blueprint for parenting, its definition is broader than facilitating good grades, as it speaks more fundamentally to fostering a conducive environment for children’s holistic growth and development through different milestones, puberty being one of the most challenging.

“There is no doubt that during adolescence the parent-child relationship undergoes a period of change,” said Cammock-Gayle. “Adolescents increasingly distance themselves from their parents as part of their move towards independence. Mutual understanding is vital, but how is that achieved? How do you, as parents, reconcile their need for distance while courting the need to monitor them even closer?” she asked, pointing to some of the issues the workshop will seek to address.

Live cooking demonstrations courtesy of Facey Commodity will be a feature of Saturday’s workshop, where a celebrity chef will show how preparing meals together as parent and child is not only great for ensuring that children eat healthily, but is also great for bonding.

Psychologist Dr Leahcim Semaj will be the workshop facilitator.