A hallmark of Active Parenting programs is the use of video vignettes to illustrate common parenting problems—and solutions. Your Padres Cooperando en Medio de un Divorcio program kit contains 36 minutes of video dubbed in Spanish. As they watch the videos, parents will recognize themselves in these realistic video scenes and scenarios, and this will help them to identify and meet the challenges facing their own families.
The children portrayed in the video are:
Rachel
Marcus
Rachel is a little girl whose parents are still very angry with each other. Rachel’s mother fuels the fire with sarcasm and name-calling, and her father reacts with defensiveness and threats of violence. Over the course of the video, Rachel’s parents learn how to defuse anger and ease communication.
Marcus is often caught between his mother’s rules and his father’s desire to have fun. Both parents tend to jump to conclusions, and Marcus takes advantage of this by manipulating them to get what he wants.
Juan
Sarah
Juan’s parents are having trouble dealing with the feelings of loss that come with divorce. His mother is tearful when Juan leaves to visit his father; meanwhile his father burdens him with stories of his loneliness. They can barely speak to each other and communicate mostly through their son.
Sarah is a teenager who has developed stomach problems due to her parents’ constant quarreling. She has also unconsciously started to mimic her parents’ negative attitudes when relating to her friends. Eventually Sarah’s parents learn how to use “I” messages to brainstorm solutions to problems.
