Making the Grade Isn't About Race, it's About Parents

By Patrick Welsh
Sunday, October 18, 2009

"Why don't you guys study like the kids from Africa?"

In a moment of exasperation last spring, I asked that question to a virtually all-black class of 12th-graders who had done horribly on a test I had just given. A kid who seldom came to class -- and was constantly distracting other students when he did -- shot back: "It's because they have fathers who kick their butts and make them study."

Another student angrily challenged me: "You ask the class, just ask how many of us have our fathers living with us." When I did, not one hand went up.

I was stunned. These were good kids; I had grown attached to them over the school year. It hit me that these students, at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, understood what I knew too well: The lack of a father in their lives had undermined their education. The young man who spoke up knew that with a father in his house he probably wouldn't be ending 12 years of school in the bottom 10 percent of his class with a D average. His classmate, normally a sweet young woman with a great sense of humor, must have long harbored resentment at her father's absence to speak out as she did. Both had hit upon an essential difference between the kids who make it in school and those who don't: parents.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/15/AR2009101503477.html

H1N1 Flu Guide for Parents

Have questions on the H1N1 Vaccine or flu? Check out CDC's new flyer for parents! Click here.

Positive Parenting Lasts Through Generations

Long-term impacts of improving parenting practices result in reduction in juvenile delinquency and other social ills

A new study that looks at data on three generations of Oregon families shows that “positive parenting” – including factors such as warmth, monitoring children’s activities, involvement, and consistency of discipline – not only has positive impacts on adolescents, but on the way they parent their own children.

For more information, visit: http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2009/sep/positive-parenting-can-have-lasting-impact-generations

Hello Twitter, NYSPEP Has Arrived!

If you're on Twitter, be sure to follow NYSPEP for up-to-date information on parenting education in New York State. Find us online at: http://www.twitter.com/nyspep

Or, if you're a Facebook fan, you can find us there too at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/NYS-Parenting-Education-Partnership/79604328595?ref=ts

And even on Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1618077&trk=hb_side_g

Social media is a great way to spread the culture of positive parenting!

Education, Inspirations & Solutions: The 15th Annual NYS Child Abuse Prevention Conference

Please save April 26-28, 2010, for Education, Inspiration & Solutions, the 15th Annual NYS Child Abuse Prevention Conference. The conference will be held at the Marriott Hotel in Albany, NY.

I am pleased to announce the 2010 conference plenary speakers:

* Dr. John Pelizza (Monday, April 26)
* Shawn Dove (Tuesday, April 27)
* Dr. Bruce Perry (Wednesday, April 28)

We are now accepting workshop proposals. You can find more information about the conference and the Call for Workshop Proposals online at: http://www.preventchildabuseny.org/conf10/index.shtml

You can also download a PDF of the Call for Workshop Proposals from: http://www.preventchildabuseny.org/conf10/NYSCAPconf10-call-for-proposals.pdf

Proposals are due by November 20th.

Thank you,

Jennifer Matrazzo
Communications Director
Prevent Child Abuse New York
33 Elk Street 2nd Floor
Albany, NY 12207
518-445-1273
www.preventchildabuseny.org

Following Up on September 25th

Thanks to everyone who attended the September 25th meeting of the NYS Parenting Education Partnership!

Please find on this page a number of the resources promised, including the minutes, and PowerPoints.

Minutes

NYSPEP Fall 2009 Meeting Minutes - 09.25.09


Adverse Childhood Experiences Research and Its Implications, presented by Heather Larkin of the SUNY Albany School of Social Work

ACES Implications

View more presentations from Michelle Gross.

The Children's Plan: Improving the Social and Emotional Well-being of New York's Children and Families, presented by Mary McHugh of the NYS Office of Mental Health

Children's Plan

View more presentations from Michelle Gross.

Recommended Framework for Certifying NYS Parenting Educators, Presented by Judy Nordstrom of T.E.P.E. Training Institute

Proposed Content Process And Tiered Levels

View more presentations from Michelle Gross.