In this 2006 photo, students from four Corporate-Area schools participate in the 'Hear the Children Cry' islandwide mobilisation drive. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

With the increasing influence of the media on children, parents were, last week, encouraged to monitor their children's activities in order to prevent negative influences.

Speaking during a parenting seminar at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, Nichel McNaughton, social work student at the Northern Caribbean University, told parents that controlling the activities of their children can prevent some of the negative influences that the media have on them.

Monitor your children

"You need to monitor your child, whether it is the Internet or the cable, and ensure that you taper it off at each level," said McNaughton, who is an intern at the health facility.

Meanwhile, Lorrain Spence, another social work student, told parents that they should help to develop self-respect and confidence in their children.

McNaughton advised single parents to have good relationships with their children's other parent.

"As single parents, our relationships with our spouses sometimes go bad. Do not take that out on your children and do not put any negative information about the other parent to the children," she said, adding that parents should allow them to form their own opinion of the other parent.

Meanwhile, Andrene Gordon-Garricks, social worker at Bustamante Hospital for Children, explained that the workshop was designed for parents of children with behavioural challenges.

"From time to time, we have a lot of accidents in and around the house and we have parents who need to be guided," Gordon-Garricks told The Gleaner.

She noted that the passing of the Child Care and Protection Act has reinforced the need for sessions such as the one held last Tuesday.