OUR MISSION
Supporting the emotional health - psychological, mental and moral - of children and adolescents through awareness, education, promotion and lobbying.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
I.
Each child, regardless of age, deserves respect, and should always - and by everyone - be treated with respect (kindly and with concern for its feelings and its good).
II.
All children need to be fully accepted. They should receive friendly eye contact and physical contact, attention and patience. These needs should be fulfilled equally for both boys and girls.
III.
Children have the right to physical and emotional security. Never beat children or cause them physical pain. Never humiliate them, injure their dignity, laugh at them or tease them. Praise them in public and correct them in private. Praise what they do, not just your perceived value of what they do. Avoid constant criticism. Make sure that the amount of praise is much higher than the amount of criticism.
IV.
Children have to be taught values, and in particular how to distinguish good from evil. Values are signposts in life: they help children navigate in society and in the sphere of their own intentions and choices. Values provide life with sense and protect against the evils of the world. Teaching values to a child is the best thing we can do for its happiness. Virtues, i.e. positive features of character, should be practiced in the same way as any craft: for a long time and persistently. Children have the right to help in this field, as well as to learn from their mistakes.
V.
Every person has a natural need to feel important and appreciated. Give your child a chance to be somebody important and appreciated in the family and close environment. He/she will feel important if you listen to it closely, devote your time and attention to it, and let it participate in your activities. Appreciate the child's positive behavior. Remember: we reinforce the behavior we pay attention to. If we only react to bad behavior , without being conscious of it we actually reinforce it. Notice the good things that your child does - and praise them.
VI.
Allow your child to fully develop its emotional and intellectual potential. Do not limit a boy to male-only behavior, games and books: give him a chance to develop sensitivity, gentleness and empathy. Do not limit a girl to traditionally female activities and the art of "being liked": give her the opportunity to have bold dreams, the courage to formulate her own opinion, and a desire for experiment and adventure.
VII.
Try to concentrate on the positive sides of each person and situation.
VIII.
Promote win-win strategies and solutions, which are beneficial to both parties.
IX.
Every child needs success: create situations to enable it.
X.
Children adjust themselves to the expectations of their parents and teachers. Show the child your belief in its abilities; set high but realistic requirements and standards.
XI.
Children develop healthily and happily when they know the boundaries within which they can freely and safely move. You should gradually broaden their rights instead of limiting privileges offered too early.
XII.
Protect your child from the bad influence of mass media, by, among other things, limiting the amount of television they watch to two carefully selected programs a week, appropriate for the child's age. Replace television with reading. Read your child valuable and interesting books, stories, or poems every day for at least 20 minutes. Read to a small baby. Do not neglect the ritual of reading aloud even when the child can already read itself! Reading aloud to a child ensures its versatile intellectual, emotional and moral development.
XIII.
The example set by adults, instead of just their words, is the best teacher. Everybody - willingly or not - sets a good or bad example to children.
XIV.
No child is born evil. Children who are distorted or demoralized are those who have not been taught to love wisely and live a proper life of dignity. In order to enable children to change we need to encourage adults to change first.
