Letter from a Mother
Dear Friends,
Over a year ago, my family initiated services with the Girls Connection program for our seven year-old daughter. At the time, I was experiencing a great deal of difficulty managing her behaviour, which included unprovoked outbursts, temper tantrums and disobedience. She was even suspended from school a number of times for fighting with other girls.
Our involvement with the Girls Connection program has been a very positive experience for my family. Through the SNAP parent groups I learned some effective and supportive parenting skills that allowed me to better manage some of the difficulties we were experiencing.
As a result, I feel much more confident in my ability to parent my seven year-old daughter. She was too young to attend the SNAP girls groups, but she still received individual befriending that helped her develop social and school skills. At home, I teach her SNAP and use rewards and timeouts. It's led to a huge change in her behaviour.
When I learned that the Girls Connection program does not receive any government or United Way funding and was completely dependent on the generosity of donors, I felt compelled to both thank donors and to assure them that their donations are truly making a difference.
The mothers and fathers in the parent groups are not bad parents. It's just that our daughters became too difficult to handle. We couldn't cope with their behaviour and we were all afraid that we might eventually lose them to drugs, gangs or pregnancy. It's horrible, as a parent, to fear that your daughter might be headed toward a life of violence before she even reaches eight years-old.
The Girls Connection has given me and the rest of the parents hope that our daughters will grow up healthy and have a bright future. Thank you to the Girls Connection and Child Development Institute for believing in the potential of young girls.
Sincerely,
A thankful mother