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"We were originally using the American version but now mostly we are using the British Teen version plus the Young Children version. 93% of the parents polled at the end of the class indicate that they would either strongly recommend or recommend the program to others. "
     - R. Pushak, Mental Health Practitioner, Penticton, BC

"We originally started off with the regular American version, and we now have the British version and the Young Children version as well. The British version is so realistic. The language the kids use---at first people have a hard time listening to the British accent--that goes away. People get over it because of the very realistic depiction."
     - Amy Curry, SSTAR Program, Fall River, MA

Based on the success of the original Parenting Wisely(PW) program, the Youth Justice Board of Manchester, England provided grant funding to create this version of PW to better represent an urban environment and to more realistically portray the "in your face" speech and body language typical of teenage behavior. Nine family problem situations are depicted with two new situations (which differ from PW: American Teens) : violating curfew, and getting teenagers up for school in the morning. The core parenting skills and communication techniques of Parenting Wisely featured in this version include:

• Setting Consequences
• Setting Limits
• Active Listening
• Role Modeling
• Assertive Discipline
• Praise
• Contracting
• Problem Solving
• Monitoring Friends and Schoolwork
• "I" Statements

Like the original (PW),
Parenting Wisely: Urban Teens (UK) version:

• Allows parents to view common problems enacted in high quality video scenes
  
• Provides multiple solutions and critiques both effective and ineffective skills
  
• Teaches valuable communication and behavior management skills
  
• Includes parent workbooks (100 pages) with solution critiques, quizzes, a glossary of terms, sample behavior charts, and practice exercises.
  
• Includes a Service Provider's manual and a curriculum for use with parent groups
  
• Is available in interactive CDROM Kit (US $659, UK £450), and in VHS (US & Canada) and PAL (European) videocassettes (3 tapes US $299, UK £135)