Challenges for parents change and evolve with the times, and today, one of the biggest hurdles for parents to overcome is how media and technology affects their child’s life.
Parent coach Gloria DeGaetano will be presenting a talk for local parents entitled “Keeping our Kids Human,” centered on parenting effectively in the media age, on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 7 p.m. in the Lopez School multi-purpose room. Admission is free and child care will be available. Islehaven Books will also be on-hand to sell copies of DeGaetano’s book, “Parenting Well in a Media Age.”
The talk is aimed at parents of kids of all ages. DeGaetano will cover the “vital five”: a loving parent/child bond, a rich inner life, the capacity for image-making, the ability for creative expression, and participating as a contributor. She will also give information about addressing peer pressure head-on with heart, immunizing families from the potential damage of the media, researched-based techniques for enhancing children’s unique talents and skills, and making parenting choices based on the brain’s needs at specific stages of development.
DeGaetano is the founder and CEO of The Parent Coaching Institute (PCI). The PCI is the originator of parent coaching as a profession, and offers a comprehensive, year-long, graduate-level parent coach training program. A nationally acclaimed educator, author, and speaker, DeGaetano has over 30 years of experience working with children, teachers, and parents as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, district administrator, university instructor, and national consultant. She is a sought-after speaker for keynotes at major conferences, has written several books, appeared in numerous national publications, and been interviewed on The Today Show and NPR.
She spoke in Friday Harbor last spring, which is where Lopez Island Family Resource Center (LIFRC) executive director Celia Marquis first heard her. DeGaetano’s talk is funded through the Children’s Trust Foundation grant recently awarded to the LIFRC. The grant is for parent education, and Lopez School student family advocate Nancy Ewert is using the grant money to develop programs for parents with kids in pre-school all the way to high school. She encourages feedback and suggestions from parents – call her at 468-2202, ext. 2224.
“DeGaetano has a lot of relevent information about the impact of media and technology on our kids’ brain development, social developement, and emotional development. And she really gears her talks to give solutions to parents. Among parents, the use of technology among kids is one of the most relevent topics in parenting today. She has been involved in media literacy for 30 years,” commented Ewert.
