What inspires me about being an advocate is that I can change the way parents spend time with their child. My plan may make it more beneficial for them once they see and hear why they should spend time with their child.
The challenges I feel related to engaging in my advocacy effort is, will the parents take this seriously or will they just toss it a side like everything else they read. I have a feeling that half of the parents may take it seriously and half will not. The half that will not are the ones that need to take it seriously. This will be a challenge to get them to see the importance.
I believe the most effective way to overcome my challenge will be in the way my advocacy plan is presented and executed. If I make it eye catching and the parents and the child get something in return, it may make it more interesting or inviting for them.
I can encourage others in their advocacy efforts by telling them to never give up, your voice will eventually be heard.
I liked this quote that I found:
"Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth."
William Faulkner
I love your idea of parents spending more time with their kids! What ideas do you have for parents to spend more quality time with their children? As a single mom who works fulltime and at college, my time is with my daughter is limited but I am not sure how I could spend more time with her. I would love to hear more about your plan. Good luck with your advocacy efforts.
ReplyDeleteI know as a parent it is hard to find time to spend together. Here are some ways, talk to each other about your day, play with your child and talk about what they are doing, spend some quiet time together, cook together, have a night routine with reading together.
DeleteJust by talking with each other in the car going to and from places is a good start.
Mary, I agree that execution of your advocacy plan is an important component in reaching parents and getting them to understand what you are trying to share and communicate. I think with all our advocacy plans we will have to think outside the usual realm of relaying information to get their attention and have our messages sink in and get them on board our plans.
ReplyDeleteI think taking a survey of parents likes, interest and hobbies can enlighten us and give some insight into new and different ways to use different materials with our advocacy plans to gain their interest.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteGreat idea on promoting the importance of the parent child relationship. How are you thinking of executing your plan? Will you us a PowerPoint? Compelling stories? Professional interviews? Intriguing data?
One challenge that I was pondering might be creating the time to allow parents to hear your message and getting their undivided attention? Do you feel that this will be a problem?
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI understand your concern about the parents that need to hear your information being the ones that don't listen or blow it off. I see this frequently in my Head Start program. The families that would benefit the most from trainings, events, socialization days, etc are the ones that we never see and it's all we can do to get them to attend our parent teacher conferences/home visits. I agree that making this eye catching and interactive might be more helpful in reaching them. If you do parent teacher conferences or home visits with your program I would try and include some of this information in those meetings.
Jen