The workshop — a joint project among Koror State Cultural Affairs Office, Meyuns Elementary School and Gear Up, a program of the Ministry of Education that helps in tutoring and improving students’ learning – is intended to guide parents in raising their kids the right way.
“Here in Palau, some of us spank our kids as part of disciplining them,” said Alvino Kenty, Meyuns Elementary School Principal. “We think that since we are the parents, we own our children. We don’t respect the fact that children are human beings, and that we need to give them love and support in order for them to be successful in the future.”
During the workshop, Deborah Toribiong-Fambro, Koror State Cultural Affairs Office Manager, talked about the importance of recognizing the individuality of the kids, and that parents should respect the fact that their children have minds of their own.
Kenty said, “As parents we need to provide our children with everything they need to be able to go to school and have a good future.”
Meyuns is the first Hamlet that the Parents Support Group has held workshop in, and Kenty said, the group is planning to visit other Hamlets as well.
“This is just the beginning,” said Kenty. “Workshops like this are really beneficial. It helps calm the parents; it gives them time to think. The more we spank the children or speak to them in a very loud voice, the more that they get scared and relent to bad habits.”
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