BCIFV home > Media Release > February 18, 2003

For Immediate Release: February 18, 2003
Contact:
phone: 604.669.7055, 1.877.755.7055, or
reception@bcifv.org or www.bcifv.org

Media Release:
The BCIFV Introduces Life in the Family:
A Resource to Help ESL Teachers Help Newcomer Parents
Adjust to Child Rearing in Canada.

Most people agree that immigration to Canada from a country with a different language and culture is difficult. But few people are as familiar with the challenges faced by new Canadians as their ESL teachers.

"Once people start learning English, their ESL teachers are often the first people they share their frustrations with," says Tracey Moropito of the BC Institute Against Family Violence. "And one of the subjects arising is child care: how expensive it is to pay for babysitting, how much harder it seems to be to teach children to be respectful here in Canada, how Canadian parents don't seem to discipline their children."

Moropito is project manager for Life in the Family: A Newcomer's Guide to Parenting Issues in Canada. Including a 15-minute video and curriculum for ESL classes, the project's goals are to ensure that ESL teachers and their students are able to:

• identify issues relating to the parenting stresses faced by newcomer families
• discuss parenting expectations and practices from the perspective of the parents' culture
• understand the prevailing Canadian view of child discipline
• know where and how to access parenting resources in their communities

The video includes three five-minute segments, each one addressing an issue commonly experienced by newcomer families. For example, the first segment deals with a working mother who leaves her preschool child in the care of a sibling of eight or nine years, with potentially dangerous consequences. The curriculum includes student handouts written in beginner to intermediate-level English, a teacher's guide to Canadian child-protection laws, and a list of key services available to newcomer families across the country.

"Initial responses to our field testing have been very positive," says Moropito. "The teachers we've worked with have been grateful. It seems that a resource of this nature is overdue." The package is free to ESL teachers, but an order form must be completed for the Institute's records. Order forms are available by calling BCIFV at the numbers listed below.

Life in the Family: A Newcomer's Guide to Parenting Issues in Canada was produced by the BC Institute Against Family Violence with generous funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage, Multicultural Program.

For more information, contact the BC Institute Against Family Violence at 669-7055 or 1-877-755-7055, reception@bcifv.org or www.bcifv.org.

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