On 3rd May, findings from the Parenting on the Border project were presented at the Education Everywhere (EE4)Conference in Mae Sot by Khaing Zar Lwin.
This project focuses on improving caregiver and child outcomes among migrant and displaced families from Myanmar living on the Thailand-Myanmar border. The intervention evaluated is the Being Family film, an entertainment-education narrative film designed to illustrate parenting skills and mental health coping strategies within the context of common stressors faced by these families. The film was co-created with migrant and displaced communities and produced by the local organisation, Sermpanya Foundation.
The EE4 conference, held in Mae Sot where much of this work is based, gathers educators and academics to discuss teaching and learning in low-resource and emergency settings. Presenting the project’s results at this conference highlights the relevance of this research to educational and wellbeing efforts in crisis contexts. The recent cluster randomised trial with 2,249 caregivers in in 44 communities showed positive impacts, including a 9% reduction in physical violence against children and improvements in positive and playful parenting. It also increased parenting knowledge, caregiver engagement in early learning, family functioning, and social support.
These positive findings, recently published in The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia, demonstrate the potential for this light-touch, low-cost film intervention to promote positive parenting and reduce violence against children at a population level, particularly in high-adversity settings like the Thailand-Myanmar border.
