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The
History of the Center for Nonviolent Education and
Parenting
CNVEP was formed in 1999 by Ruth Beaglehole, M.A. The
roots of CNVEP were founded on Ruth’s lifelong
commitment to children and a path that led her to
understand what children truly need. After a decade of
working as a preschool teacher and parent educator, Ruth
founded the Teen Parenting and Child care Program at the
L.A. Technology Center, an LAUSD adult school in 1985. A
model program, teen mothers earned their High School
diploma while enrolled in Ruth’s Child Care and parent
education program.It was here that Ruth saw a raw
vulnerability in these teen mothers, who in the early
days screamed at and spanked their kids. She was face to
face with the long-term effects of hurting children in
the name of “discipline”.
Ruth really felt for these mothers and saw how much they
needed to be cared for, and taught to emotionally
connect with their children. Ruth quickly created a
bottom line within the walls of her Child Care Center;
no spanking or yelling.
In the place of these hurtful practices, teens were
taught how to express love, using techniques for
connecting communication, effectively breaking the cycle
of family violence. Ruth modeled nurturing and love
which many of the teens, conditioned in violence, had
never experienced. Ruth quickly realized the vast need
for parents who craved nurturing and support and
information about child development. Thus she deepened
her commitment to the needs of children through her work
with adults, and began to develop a philosophy that
would support adults in relationship with children in
the best possible, most loving way.
This experience along with decades of work in early
education formed the basis of the philosophy of
nonviolence. It’s success created support for Ruth to
extend this philosophy to the wider community, and CNVEP
was born. Today, three of the teen mother mentors from
Ruth’s early work, remain on the CNVEP board of
Directors, a testament to the effectiveness and beauty
of the practice of nonviolent parenting.
From the beginning, CNVEP has provided
Parenting
Services, Days of Dialogue, and the
Festival of
Childhood in Echo Park. Today, it has expanded to
include a variety of Professional Services, an
educational
Newsletter and
Community events, reaching
approximately 5,000 people annually.
CNVEP credits the influences of a diverse theoretical
and Academic spectrum in shaping it’s own philosophy,
including; Daniel Goldman, Robin Grille, Alfie Kohn,
Joseph Chilton Pearce , Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, Dr. Dan
Seigel and Dr. Murray Strauss.
More about Ruth Beaglehole. |
