NORWICH – The Chenango County Youth Bureau is sponsoring a series of free classes for frustrated parents who need support managing their teenagers.
The Chenango County Parent Project begins April 25. Classes are spread over the course of ten weeks, with each class to take place from 6 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays in the board room of the Norwich Family YMCA. Every parent is welcome to join this no-cost program, but registration is required by Thursday, April 19.
The intent of the course is to help empower parents to learn the different tools and techniques of working better with strong-willed kids, according to Parent Project Facilitator Karen Osborn. Each lecture will address parental concerns that include arguing with adolescents, improving school attendance and performance, preventing or intervening in alcohol and other drug use, and finding the useful resources to help parents throughout the process.
“Parenting is the hardest job that you’ll ever have in your lifetime,” explained Osborn. “If you’re a parent and you’re struggling, why not get help to get the techniques to work with your child?”
The focus of the program is to help parents regain control over their kids during some of the most taxing times of their child’s early years. “We found across the board that if parents are involved in all aspects of their kid’s life, it helps their kids become more successful,” she added. “If parents learn these skills, they can better monitor their kids and their behavior.”
Kathy Clemens, director of the Chenango County Youth Bureau, said the course is not intended to criticize parenting skills, but is merely a useful outline that people may refer to in their parenting.
“The program is not a judgment upon parents being bad parents,” she said. “It just gives parents the tools to use that may not have been used in the past.”
Among the techniques taught during the course, parents will learn the importance of discipline and how to stand their ground while also encouraging them to get away from “head-butting” with their child, Osborn said.
“We talk a lot about love during these classes,” she said. “If you truly love your kid, you want what’s best for your kid ... Part of loving them is giving them consequences and meaningful consequences.”
Osborn has spent more than four years instructing similar classes in Albany County. Of the parents who have completed the program in the past, she said 74 percent noticed improvement in their child’s overall behavior while requiring less intervention from the local Department of Social Services and Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS) laws.
Of the parents of children that relapsed into PINS, Osborn claimed 24 percent admitted to not implementing the strategies taught during the Parent Project seminars. 
For additional information on the Chenango County Parent Project, contact Clemens at 337-1656 or by email, kathyc@co.chenango.ny.us. More can also be found on the Parent Project website, www.parentproject.com.