About

iParentnetwork began with a committed group of parents, teachers, professionals and community members who came together to brainstorm ways we can collectively help keep our kids safe and healthy. We collected information and spoke to many others in the community. We discovered that our tri-town area of Mansfield, Ashford and Willington had substantially higher rate of alcohol and substance abuse in our kids than other parts of our State. We wanted to know why this was occuring and to figure out how we could make lasting change.

We learned that in addition to substance use among teens, parents had many other concerns that they wanted to talk about with other parents, but with such busy lives, it's often difficult to have those casual conversations that were common in our parent's generation. Because we have a regional high school, parents reported finding it difficult to make new connections with parents from the other towns once their child reached high school.

After researching this topic, our committee, now known as the Tri Town Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking, determined that the best way to ensure lasting change in our community, was to:

• give parents a way to feel, and in fact, to be more connected to each other and
• provide access to information and resources on a range of topics of interest to parents.

We learned that in our rural community, parents often feel isolated and once kids get to the regional high school, that feeling increases. We also learned that because many of our children today connect with each other through technology, it was even harder to be an effective parent.

This web site, is meant to create a virtual town square where we can meet and “talk” to one another about the challenges of being a parent. We hope to provide a safe environment where you can learn about and learn how to use the technology many kids are using.

in all our research and discussions with parents in town, the single comment that keeps coming up is our desire to have more of a feeling of community – that we’ve lost that “town square” feeling of a small town.  In the age of the Internet, our goal is to recreate that feeling by encouraging discussions and open public forums to discuss issues important to parents. We want to hear people's stories, questions, suggestions, ideas, and reactions. In many respects, the web site is an open window into life our tri-town area of Mansfield, Ashford and Willington.

• Compare tips and strategies with others
• Learn from experts
• Get information about what’s happening in town
• Find a babysitter or a play group
• Talk about curfews, and much more.

Connections with others  can be made anonymously or not, so you'll have the choice of how you want to interact. iParentnetwork will be a living website connection that will grow to become what we, as a community, want it to be.

The Tri Town Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking, with input from the Parent Advisory Group, coordinates the development of this parent website. We work with many community groups and parents to improve and expand the website. The Coalition is open to new members. Please consider visiting us at a meeting or contacting project coordinator Ruth Freeman at PositiveParent@earthlink.net.

Welcome. We’re glad you’re here. Invite your neighbors and friends to join. The more of us who stand together, the stronger we are. Never doubt what a group of caring parents can accomplish!