neverassume.org

Growing up with two alcoholic parents did not prepare me for the day a child I was working with told me about the terrible time she was having at home whith her own parents alcohol use. I had no idea what to say to her and yet I had lived a life just like hers.Strict procedures and guidelines are always followed so my next point of action was to report to the child protection officer, who followed procedure and took it from there.I could have helped her.

I have since researched and studied the subject of alcohol and addiction   for three years and I am the founder of Neverassume.

We introduced "Time 4 Me" to Girvan Primary School, South Ayrshire in 2010. We have  display boards throughout the school that provide Social, Emotional, Health & wellbeing information and contacts for the children. We adopted the Childline "how you feelin?" theme and introduced NACOA and Children 1st to the school community through fundraising and awareness raising events.They also have an afterschool/out of school activities information board. Some children  have difficulty relating to their peers and adults.Like all children, they need opportunities to participate in primary group activities.However, many children lack confidance and self esteem, and need help to do so.

Early childhood professionals who lead extracurricular and community-based activities have many opportunities to assist in fostering quality relationships for boys and girls who have alcoholic parents. Like others, these children can acquire many benefits from after-school activities. However, for children of alcoholics, the more obvious benefits of after-school activities may be secondary to the benefits achieved through the friendships developed in the program. A child not only learns how to take part in a sport, publish a newspaper, etc., but also gains a sense of belonging and a role that he or she values. Extracurricular activities  provide more time and opportunities for children to interact with you and other potential adult role models. In addition, some children may feel that a caregiver is more approachable than a teacher within a classroom, or that it is more permissible to discuss personal, “after-school” matters after school than during school hours.