Margherita interacts with parents in a series of workshops dedicated to preadolescence and adolescence. Communication, affectivity and relationship with peers are the main topics being discussed.
Each meeting I attend is unique. Parents participate spontaneously according to their schedules. This means that each group is new and diverse. Some of the participants are more stable, and those who have taken part in the previous years become facilitators for the rest of the group.
Despite the embarrassment of the first meetings, even the newcomers manage to open up thanks to the help of those who already participated several times. Everyone gets involved and shares what they feel like sharing.
A mother, struggling with her teenage son, shared her experience during a meeting just this morning. In no time the other parents started to open up too. Such openness really makes parents realize that they are not alone and that many of the problems they face are common and therefore manageable.
Parents bonded during the meetings, which became an opportunity to discover an ever-present community. A community that is always there even if you do not participate often and that can foster new relationships. The group allows people to develop a sense of belonging, just like the migratory past of most of the parents bonds them despite their diversity. Their different backgrounds, on the contrary, have never been the cause of disagreements. The shared experience of raising children in a new country makes them feel connected. Their children escape their understanding both because they are teenagers and also due to generational and cultural factors.
Within this project, parents are very present and particularly attentive concerning sporting activities. In most cases, parents themselves practised sports, even at a competitive level. Among them, there is also someone who became a coach.
Some mothers tell how they were particularly good at playing football during their teenage years, but could not do it freely in their own country.
Parents see sports not only as a means to relieve stress and have fun but also as a way of socializing and discovering one's own limits. For them, sports are a resource to keep their children off the streets and introduce them to a community that is capable of protecting them.
The positive impact of this project is tangible, especially on those who attended the meetings for many years.
The improvement is visible, especially in the reduction of automatic responses and the increase of time devoted to reflection and listening. What comes to light is the ever-greater attempt by parents to understand their children.