I know that I became a mom too early than planned but I made sure that I get to show and let my kids feel the love and care they very much needed to experience. Whenever I want to learn something about parenting, I would always ask my mom first and if I want to expound more, I tend to search for Parenting threads online and better yet, check out parenting seminars that I think would be very helpful and informative. Recently, I got the chance to attend a very important workshop/seminar last August 21, 2016 at the 3rd floor studio of the Peta Theater Center.

The topic tackled during the event was Effective Parenting and Positive Discipline which was conducted by Ms. Beng Cabangon (Executive Director of PETA) and Ms. Marichu Belarmino (Program Director of ArtsZone) and imparted to the attendees through lectures and of course, artistic group activities that require acting and performing since it was a Peta-Arts Zone seminar.


Let me share to you a bit of what was discussed during the event. They started off with the basics, which are the general principles when it comes to the rights of every child:

• All rights must be available to all children WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION of any kind
• The BEST INTEREST of the child must be a primary consideration in all actions considering children
• Every child has the right to LIFE, SURVIVAL and DEVELOPMENT
• Child's view must be considered (Right to participate)

Usually, the right to Life, Survival and Development are observed by parents but the last right which is to let them participate can be somewhat neglected by most parents. To broaden up this subject, here's a table on Understanding Child Participation:


I also grew up without the chance to participate in decision making together with my parents and I thought it was the right thing to do since I was just a kid back then. Little did I know that my right to participate wasn't given to me, but thanks to seminars like this, I am now informed and equipped with knowledge to give my kids the rights that they deserve.

After discussing the Rights of a Child, we then proceeded to understanding how a Child, his/her Childhood and Development is seen in Traditional, Dominant and Emerging View.

• CHILD - traditionally viewed as a miniature adult, source of financial/emotional security and a gift from God. They are dominantly viewed as passive, weak, ignorant, helpless and better seen than heard. But in reality, they are an evolving individual, social actors and active participants in social change.
• CHILDHOOD - dominantly viewed as an age span from birth to adulthood and that children go through similar experiences during childhood. But in reality, there is no single standard model of childhood because these can be altered with factors such as social, economic, cultural, religious and historical.
• DEVELOPMENT - dominantly viewed like childhood which has a universal pattern or stages of child/human development and when a child don't fit the pattern, they are considered as "abnormal" or "deviant". But in reality, development is an interactive process which is multi-dimensional but interrelated and integrated that occurs in a context.