PRIDE has recently launched Parent to Parent, a video based programme made up of eight sessions to provide parents with concrete skills they can implement in the home, according to coordinator Miss Margaret Swift. Its purpose is to motivate parents to prevent kids from using drugs, to see that they stop, and to intervene by seeking professional help and support. Parent to Parent's aim is to put parents back in control of their children. Said Miss Swift: "Our feeling is that parents are doing the best that they can. But we are dealing with a generation where there are a number of risks like AIDS and drugs. And such factors weren't necessarily as prevalent when parents were growing up.

"Our programme seeks to give parents modern day advice, '' she said, adding that information obtained by the programme can be assimilated into what people Parents build support groups sessions with other parents, which helps them build a support group in which to share information with each other. The response to the programme is good, said Miss Swift. "It's been very enlightening -- we've found that it's often the basic things that help you learn what's going on with your young person.

And being able to see the different parenting styles within the groups is helpful,'' she said. Other significant events offered by PRIDE are Lock-Ins.

Students and parents are invited to be locked in an auditorium for four hours where they are provided with dinner and seminars, according to Miss Swift.

Originally, the programme was for primary six and seven students, but it is now being expanded to include secondary students, she noted. The evening starts with a discussion initiated by a facilitator among the parents and children followed by skits performed by Youth to Youth members. After dinner the group splits into two units -- parents and children -- who listen to speakers and talk among themselves. At the end of the night, kids and parents unite to talk about what they have learned, said Miss Swift. "It works very well. And often the young people talk to their parents about things they've never talked about before -- it's a learning experience,'' she said, noting that any school can request to partake in a lock-in. PRIDE is a grass roots organisation which believes parents can regain control of their children. Its goal is to empower parents through education and training to talk to their children about drugs in an effort to prevent dependency. "If you delay the onset of even trying drugs, the chances of taking drugs are even less and the less likely an addiction,'' said Mrs. Burgess, adding that PRIDE is here to delay if not stop youths from taking drugs like tobacco and alcohol, and prevent the onset of illegal drug use. PHOTO PRIDE COORDINATOR -- Miss Margaret Swift said PRIDE's new programme, Parent to Parent, seeks to give parents modern day advice.

EDUCATION FOR DRUG FREE YOUTHS -- PRIDE, which aims to prevent youngsters from taking drugs like the cannabis pictured above, provides parents with the tools needed to better equip their children to say `no'.