Parents and Children on the Field Program
During 2023, a collaboration was established with the "Fathers and Sons" program, which was developed by Eli Kushnir and Michal Ettinger. The program has been operating for 41 years throughout the country and aims to deepen the relationship between fathers and their teenage sons.
Recently, the "Parents and Children" program was added, based on the model of the "Fathers and Sons" program.
The parents who participate in the program take part in a weekly sports training with their children (training that is managed by an instructor) and participate in discussion groups led by group leaders. From the year 2018 the program also operates in the format of mothers/fathers and daughters/sons - "Children and Parents Take to the Field" ".
About 6,000 children and teenagers and about 6,000 parents have participated in the program so far. In the last year, 41 groups were active throughout the country and over 4,000 participants (parents and children) participated.
Gefen code number: 35668
What Does The Program Offer?
The program "Children and parents Take to the Field" (fathers and sons) offers a space that invites parents to have a good shared experience of educational-sports activities with their children. The program's components (sports training and the group guidance of the parents), create a structured and supportive framework for a joint and enjoyable activity of a parent with his child and thereby allow them to strengthen their relationship and communication.
The program includes additional activities such as group games, joint activities and other social events to which all family members are invited.
The Work in the Guidance Groups
This work includes processing experiences from the playful interaction with the children, sharing the dilemmas of raising children and mutual consultation. This activity promotes the expansion and enrichment of the parental function.
Strengthening the relationship and communication between a parent and his child
Increasing the parent's and child's sense of competence
Creating mental resilience
Reducing and preventing risky behaviors during adolescence
The benefits of the program
Rationale and Goals
The literature and professional experience show that positive family support is a central and essential factor of mental and physical well-being of teenage boys and girls. Studies conducted specifically on topic of relationships between fathers and sons have shown that positive relationships between them have a critical impact on the sons' quality of life, mental health and future. Boys who grow up with involved fathers are less likely to behave in dangerous and harmful ways.
Parental Involvement
Studies conducted in recent years point to the unique importance that parents have in the lives of their children in general, and in the lives of their adolescent children in particular. Particularly prominent is the element of direct involvement (Engagement): direct interaction of the parent with the child (such as therapy, play, etc.).
The "Children and Parents Take to the Field" program offers a way that successfully realizes this component of the model, which according to experts is the most important and often most lacking. According to the evaluation report conducted with regards tn the program by the "Do-Et Institute for Social and Economic Research":
"This program succeeds in bringing parents, the vast majority of whom work hard and do not have much free time, to active involvement in the lives of their teenage children. From the interviews with the parents, it appears that participation in the program also has a positive effect on the relationships between siblings in the family and on the children's behavior in the family space in general. Mothers also noted the father's internalization of his parental role, which is reflected in his relationship with his other children. There is no doubt that the program achieves its main goals to a very high degree: it contributes significantly to the strengthening of the relationship between the parents and the children participating in it. The participants of the program (the parents and the children), and the professional teams."
"This program succeeds in bringing parents, the vast majority of whom work hard and do not have much free time, to active involvement in the lives of their teenage children. From the interviews with the parents, it appears that participation in the program also has a positive effect on the relationships between siblings in the family and on the children's behavior in the family space in general. Mothers also noted the father's internalization of his parental role, which is reflected in his relationship with his other children. There is no doubt that the program achieves its main goals to a very high degree: it contributes significantly to the strengthening of the relationship between the parents and the children participating in it. The participants of the program (the parents and the children), and the professional teams."