Parents in Jiwaka Breaking the Cycle of Violence as Highlands Youth Rehabilitation and Training College Celebrates New Positive Parenting Graduates

From across Jiwaka and further afield these parents are due to graduate from the College’s Positive Parenting program, an intensive course to end the cycle of violence by teaching non-violent parenting and the importance of modelling healthy relationships for children from infancy.

“This positive parenting is the foundation for all the problems that we have,” says Mike programme coordinator Mike Goro. “We wouldn’t have family violence if we have this positive parenting training and bring to all parents in the province.”

The College’s program targeted parents of children aged 3 to 10. The reach of the program far exceeded the facilitation team’s expectations.

“The goal was to train 70 facilitators and we trained more than that,” says Mike. “They then go back to their communities to deliver this program. 527 parents have completed the training and 800 more parents will be graduating in March.”

Mike attributes the program’s success to the great demand for parenting skills and to the College’s community-based approach that sees influential trainers recruited from communities and send them to remote areas to conduct sessions. These trainers carry their facilitation materials on foot into Highlands villages to deliver sessions with parents.

The reception has been positive.

“Our participants have said they really regretted that this kind of positive parenting training wasn’t available before they were married,” says Mike. “They even cried that they lost so many years.”

The high demand for the program was echoed by College Director Chris Goro. As a former policeman who has seen child abuse cases firsthand, Chris is passionate about preventing violence rather than responding to it. He said the interest in the program is high.

“I have to turn my phone off because I have people calling me all the time asking when the next intake is starting.”

Conducting the program is not without challenges. Mike shares one story of a women who attended one of the College’s other courses in Banz. In class all day, she was not answering her phone. Her husband turned up at the college to abuse her for not answering the phone when he called. The team at the College responded and provided counselling to the couple. The incident is not isolated and these cases reaffirm to Mike, Chris, and the facilitators why this positive parenting training is so important.

“Here in Jiwaka we have been brought up seeing this kind of behaviour,” says Chris. “So that’s why I really encourage the positive parenting program. If this program can reach more districts and provinces, family violence can be reduced.”

The positive parenting program at the Highlands Youth Rehabilitation and Training College is supported by the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to end violence against women and girls. The Initiative’s parenting for childhood development activities are implemented by UNICEF Papua New Guinea.