JIS Photos
LEFT: Participants in the parenting workshop and members of the Joy Town Foundation following the organisation's graduation ceremony held at the Charlie Smith High School in Arnett Gardens recently.
RIGHT: (From left) Adria Diaz, a presenter at the seminar, Patrick Mendez, a participant, and Major Richard Cooke, president of the Joy Town Foundation, pose after the ceremony.

Shelly-Ann Harris, Contributor

Growing up in the inner city has its inherent challenges. Poverty and lack of opportunity are two of the most glaring. To make things worse, the family unit also takes a battering and lends itself to poor parenting practices, since the father is often absent.

According to the Survey of Living Conditions, nationally, female-headed households had both the highest household size and the highest number of children and in most of these households only 5.4 per cent had a male partner in the home. These statistics get even more discouraging in inner-city communities.

However, in areas such as Arnett Gardens in St Andrew, a beacon of hope is rising. The Joy Town Foundation (a non-governmental organisation), through assistance from the JA Style Project, has been hosting streetside parenting workshops for parents in Arnett Gardens and surrounding areas.

Male participant

Meet an eager and unique participant, Patrick Mendez.

For starters, Patrick was the only male who attended his particular workshop on Ninth Street (between Brooklyn and Angola) in Arnett Gardens.

Still gushing with enthusiasm he said: "When I look at the topic and when I see them come around and talk about parenting and to my understanding me know that is lacking in Jamaica, I decided to take part."

Patrick, who has four children for four different women, is one of several persons who recently graduated from the parenting course. Every Wednesday for several weeks, six to eight parents, including Patrick, would congregate on the street corner for training on parenting.

Hosting some of the workshops on the streetside allows passers-by and persons 'on the corner' to hear the information.

Asked if he considers himself a good parent, Patrick said, "I started to make family at an early age, at 17, so I didn't know much about parenting. But by growing up, I get to understand more, and by doing the workshop, I get to understand, I feel like a better parent. This parenting workshop is like a new start for me, I feel like I can start all over."

While starting over will have its challenges, workshop participants are certainly empowered by the principles learnt during the parenting seminars.

Foundation courses

Presenter Adria Diaz said the syllabus, which was developed by the JA Style Project, begins at the foundation.

"We looked at how everyone was brought up as a child, so everyone had to reflect on how they were brought up and their family structure and we make the point that how we were brought up affects how we are as parents."

The workshop also focused on "parenting styles; permissive parents, authoritarian parents with the balanced parent being the ideal," Diaz added. "We also looked at punishment versus discipline."

The area of discipline is of supreme interest to Patrick, who is striving to raise well-mannered productive young men.

"The most important part is the obedience. How fi deal with the youth, not fi get too aggressive wid di youth. Mi try it wid mi son and see seh likkle a it work from what I learnt here. Me talk to him now. It can work," he said, with an air of confidence.

Two of Patrick's children are 24, one 20 and the other 10.

Apart from workshops on discipline and communication, Diaz believes that the group's most successful meeting was on HIV/STI prevention. The group had a guest speaker from the Ministry of Health, who spoke with residents on a one-on one level.

Generate impact

Christina Lewis, a new mother, also feels that attending the workshop was a strategic and important move.

"It was a good experience, I learn about how to parent a child, about the abuse of children, HIV, how to prevent it," she recounted.

Following the training sessions, Christina now has advice on how to be a good parent and is hopeful about the prospects of raising a responsible male child in the inner city.

"Take time out when them do certain things, listen to them, listen to everything they have to say and don't make them feel neglected," the young mother advised.

Major Richard Cooke, president of the Joy Town Foundation, said he was pleased with the concept and the outcome of the workshop and was determined to generate even greater impact.

"We expect that as better parents, youngsters are going to be more successful, have better self-esteem, be more focused on schoolwork, be more likely to achieve, reduce teenage pregnancy, reduce violence, and create a more productive society," he said.

As it relates to the father figure in the inner city, Major Cooke pointed out: "We have seen the men down here taking a lot more care than is credited to them."

Patrick is also advocating for other fathers to take up their responsibility.

"The children will give a little fear to the father; sometimes the mothers will relax but the fathers are firm," he said.

This feature is a special collaboration between The Gleaner Company and the Jamaica Information Service.