Positive parenting focused on Children’s Month

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-Region 7) is gearing up for the 26th year of the National Children’s Month observance this November, focusing on positive parenting.

Leah Quintana, DSWD-7 information officer, said the agency is set to hold a big parent-children dialogue this November 22.

She said one of the specific aims of the observance is to increase awareness on the importance of positive parenting and positive discipline.

She said the lectures are also to increase knowledge of parents and caregivers on how to handle or educate their children while in the cyberspace, especially nowadays that the internet is popular to the millennials.

She said according to national survey, the prevalence of violence against children in the country is "high."

The main objective of the observance is to advocate building a safe, nurturing and protective environment for children through positive parenting among parents, guardians, caregivers and teachers, she added.

This year's theme carries, "Isulong: Tamang pag-aaruga para sa lahat ng bata!"

She said that the focus and the theme of this year’s observance is intended to align with the key strategies of the Philippine Plan of Action to End Violence against Children (PPAEVAC), which was launched this year.

Here in the region, the National Children’s Month is set to kick off with an advocacy and awareness walk dubbed “MOVEmber for Positive Parenting” set on November 10. The walk was initially planned to traverse from Plaza Sugbu (Cebu City Hall) to Capitol Grounds.

There will also be a regional children’s contest slated on November 28.

DSWD-7 is also supporting the call for help campaign called the “Pito, Bata, Pito,” which is done by collecting and distributing whistles to children and create a whistle barrage.

The National Children’s Month is an annual event for all the Filipino children to celebrate and recognize them as the most valuable assets of the nation and to emphasize the importance of their role within the family and society.

The declaration of November as National Children's Month is supported by Republic Act 10661 with DSWD being one of the three lead agencies.

It was on this month, back in 1989, when the United Nations general assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Philippines has ratified.

This legally-binding international agreement lays down the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of every child, regardless of their race, religion or abilities. — May B.