Child Resiliency Programme transforms ‘at-risk children’

The Child Resiliency Programme, which is administered by the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA), continues to transform children who are deemed ‘at risk’ and have been referred to the programme for intervention.

Dr Kim Scott, programme director of the Child Resiliency Programme, shared the successes of the programme at a VPA forum titled ‘Pathways to the Prevention of Violence: Examining the Evidence’ at the Regional Headquarters, The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, recently.

“After one year in the intervention, we have found that we had a 14 per cent decrease in the number of children who were reading at grade two level and below, and a 17 per cent increase in the number of children reading at grades four and five level,” she said.

“But more important, we had a 75 per cent increase in the number of children who have demonstrated that they love to learn and read, and that is invaluable data because we have been able to inspire students who attend the programme after school,” she informed.

Break the stigma

She said that these are children who are often labelled as “dunce, rude, out-of-order” have an opportunity to become “at promise” rather than “at risk”. She noted that having been engaged in something that they enjoy, such as sports and cultural activities, which include football, boxing and dance, along with a caring adult mentor, these children were more receptive to learning and behaviour change.

The programme also offers life skills training, including anger management, politeness, respect for others and appropriate behaviour. Dr Scott said the report in that area was also encouraging, with the data showing a 77 per cent increase in children demonstrating increased resilience attributes and pro-social skills, and that there was a significant reduction in fighting and cursing.

There was also evidence of an increased ability in handling conflicts in most of the students, those who would normally be prone to fighting being better able to walk away. There was also improvement in self-confidence and teamwork, with 85 per cent of these children identifying new and additional persons who care for them and with whom they can talk to for support.

In terms of the parents of these children, Dr Scott said the report indicated that these parents were now more involved in their children’s lives. These parents were now supervising homework more, and they had an increased understanding of the difference between appropriate discipline and corporal punishment.