Every once in a while, an idea comes along and illuminates profound social change. Robin Grille’s book PARENTING FOR A PEACEFUL WORLD is such an idea, and gives us the story for this 3-part Television Series.

Robin’s work draws on a plethora of historical data to reveal the inter-generational cycle of cruel and abusive parenting which has shaped our social evolution.

He suggests that, rather than trying to impose social reform on unreceptive populations from the top down, or focusing on what we need to ‘fix kids,’ positive social change happens most effectively when we adopt more progressive modes of parenting, raising better balanced, self-reliant and more empathic generations.

Violence against children has been casually accepted and well documented for thousands of years.  For parents who might have cared for their children, the chilling likelihood of infant mortality meant you hardly dared to bond too closely with your child.  One way or the other, emotional abandonment has been a norm for countless millions of kids.  How has this affected feelings of connection and safety for parents, children and societies as a whole? Psychohistory and psychology have found a tragic correlation between intergenerational abuse and neglect, and the violence that marks so much of our history.

Then, in the last 200 years, the lights go up revealing dramatic and
widespread changes toward children’s rights and health. Safer and better
living conditions give parents the space to bring affection, protection,
nurturing and attachment to their children’s lives. At the same time,
extraordinary advances in psychology, neuroscience and neurobiology
lend scientific support to robin Grille’s core proposal:

The outcomes of this transformation can be seen in documentaries like Parenting a Peaceful World, and in the slow march of change in global legislation, social services and parents’ and children’s awareness of the advantages of empathic connection.

What AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH did for mass environmental awareness, this television Series can do for PARENTING and SOCIAL REFORM, pulling together research by experts the world over in support of a transformational social movement.

The film and its supporting media - on line, in print, in training manuals and parenting workshops, and through its supporters on the public lecture circuit worldwide - empowers parents wanting to rear more empathic, compassionate children and strengthens the work of activists in law,education, government and social research.

In this first episode, Robin introduces Lloyd Demause, the world’s leading psychohistorian and custodian of an private archive of historical art and artefacts on the grim history of childhood. this extraordinary collection graphically exposes the roots of violent behaviour that has shaped so much of our history.

For millennia, violence against children was considered a cultural norm, even a moral duty. routine bashing and infanticide, child slavery, baby swaddling and sex with minors were accepted behaviour. Infant mortality rates were so high parents didn’t dare bond too deeply with their children, creating the emotional distance that even fifty years ago saw children defined in law as their parents’ ‘possessions.’

What impact did this level of abuse have on a child’s forming brain, and what were the social consequences? to answer, we put our ancestors under the MRI scanner and onto the therapist’s couch, asking the world’s leading neuroscientists and child development specialists how entrenched intergenerational violence against children affected and may still affect our social evolution. the industrial revolution and especially the last century, with its advances in science, technology, literacy, nutrition and health, have lowered infant mortality and raised expectations. this has given parents a window of opportunity to raise better-informed, more altruistic generations who in turn have the time and resources to care for children as never before.

We leave the first episode with viewers primed for a compelling look at the changes taking place in our world right now.

From our violent beginnings to where we are now is a story of profound social transformation. Over the last 50 years many of our static beliefs about “how people are” have been turned on their heads.

This episode explores Robin’s core idea:

“The brain and heart met primarily with empathy in the critical early years cannot and will not grow to choose a violent or selfish life.”

Robin Grille Travelling the developed world, Robin talks with social reformers, therapists, educators and neuroscientists who have inspired his work and provide the evidence for the Series.

Professor Bruce Perry, child psychiatrist, was first to support child survivors of the Waco, Texas massacre in 1993. He has proved the power of consistent empathic support in securing children’s emotional recovery from abuse. Bruce shows brain scans of a child left alone without care for long periods; the natural stress hormone cortisol has flooded her brain, burning permanent ‘black holes’ in her neural pathways.

Bruce’s peers, Professors Louis Cozolino and Daniel Siegel, are both neuroscientists and psychologists. They are also world leaders in infant brain development and attachment practices. “Each brain is dependent on the scaffolding of caretakers and loved ones for its survival, growth and well-being. So we begin with what we know: The brain is an organ of adaptation.” This is the kind of extraordinary research that gives scientific ground to developments in countries where respectful, child-sensitive legislation and practices are already encouraged.

The 1970’s, Swedish social change advocates brought in the most advanced child protection laws in the world. Since then two generations of Swedes have been raised without corporal punishment - and with dramatic and measurable outcomes: child and substance abuse are negligible compared to other developed countries; youth suicide is almost unknown; 100% of Swedish hospitals are ‘baby friendly’ in accord with WHO specifications …
In 2006 New Zealand joined other advanced nations in outlawing corporal punishment, why haven’t we? We will ask Dr Sue Packer, paediatrician and advisor to the Australian Government on child abuse in the Northern Territory, to share her insights.

Meanwhile, Israeli educationalist Yaacov Hecht has united Israeli and Palestinian families in 33 ‘democratic schools’ with spectacular results, leading to many other schools wishing to join them. We will meet some of
the parents on both sides who have decided to bring their children into this amazing initiative.
We compare these achievements to countries like ours, where institutionalised child care is an accepted norm - and a massive expense to parents and the state - and ask the difficult questions facing most Australian parents: “How can we reconcile our wish for one-on-one nurturing for our babies when both parents have to work?”

In Australia, the US and UK the support is not there as it is in countries like Sweden, Denmark and Holland which generously subsidise parenting, and compare the social outcomes to countries with little support.
Australian parents have responded by flocking to parenting workshops where the emphasis is on ‘parenting the parents’. When we meet them and the children being brought up with attachment parenting, it is striking to see from their responses and the quality of their presence, that something very special is happening.

In this episode we ask each of our world-leading authorities:

“Where are these ideas leading us and what, if all your dearest wishes came true, do you hope to see in the world?”

Just 50 years ago, Sir Truby King was a world-famous parenting guru who started out as a cattle farmer and arrived at his views on baby care by observing cows with their calves. In BBC footage Truby pronounced: “Babies should only receive 10 minutes cuddling a day”.

Luckily for the world, Dr Benjamin Spock was ascendant at the same time. He encouraged parents to cuddle children and show them plenty of affection, profoundly influencing child rearing for the Baby-Boomer generation. His landmark book, ‘Baby and Child Care’, has sold 30 million copies and Truby King is largely forgotten, except as a curiosity.

At the same time, visionary British psychiatrists John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, gave birth to ‘Attachment theory’ and it is their vision that underpins so much of the healthy science we highlight in this Series.

Attachment parenting encourages compassionate regard for children’s emotional needs. From extended breastfeeding and eye contact, to consistent physical affection throughout a child’s development, attachment practices support the healthy emotional development that good science now completely endorses.

But it’s never as simple as we might hope. Many of the changes we are seeing are happening despite the exigencies of the ‘market economy’: information overload, increased stress and the constant ‘shock of the new’ are all constantly impacting us.

British neuroscientist Baroness Susan Greenfield warns that the long hours our children spend in front of screens may create an unempathic generation completely at odds with the emotional skills we are hoping for. Afflicted with what she calls ‘digital autism’, these children crave constant stimulation and risk over-developing the ‘process centres’ of their brains, with less concern for ‘content’.

Social Darwinists still argue “We aren’t going to stay ahead of the pack by going soft on our kids!” Current US lawmakers support ‘zero-tolerance’ and ‘three strikes and you’re out’. They are dealing with the symptoms rather than the causes of juvenile crime, filling prisons with thousands of minors, and supporting a multi-billion dollar industry. We will ask Americans Bruce Perry and Lloyd deMause, to share their views.

So what will we need for a sustainable future?

Professor Joan Durrant is spearheading child rights reform at government level in Canada. Backed by 160 NGOs, she tells of some of the giant hurdles she has cleared on her way to success. Other activists, including Australians, vent their frustration over the slow rate of social change.

This Television Series is in the vanguard of change, inspiring a national conversation and providing a valuable resource to the social movement already in train.

The Series will be supported by a vibrant, ongoing online presence, the lecture circuit and public profile of its contributors, national and international parenting workshops, a vigorous marketing arm and ongoing print and video resources.

		documentary team
		Robin Grille, author and specialist consultant Robin Grille is a practising family therapist, psychologist and psychotherapist with extensive experience working with individuals, couples and families, and teaching or facilitating groups. His work on child development, parenting issues and family relationships has been widely published in Australia, the U.S., Canada, South Africa and Israel. Parenting for a Peaceful World was published in Australia in 2005 and has just gone into its second edition. The German edition is already out and the UK edition is due in October. ABC TV Consumer Publishing has just released Robin’s new book, Parenting Heart to Heart. He is in demand as a public speaker and is frequently called upon as keynote for the Australian Breastfeeding Association. His most recent address was to the KIDS Foundation under the auspices of Professor David Bennett and Sydney University. Robin is married to Linda and is the adoring father of daughter, Yaramin. They live in Sydney’s Northern Beaches area.
		Naomi Radunski, Producer Since reading Robin’s articles and Parenting for a Peaceful World 18 months ago, Naomi has been developing his work for television, as well as operating her marketing business, corehappiness.com Naomi is a natural entrepreneur with a passionate interest in human rights and politics. In 2007 she initiated corehappiness.com to support branding and marketing programs for small and medium-sized ethical businesses, with an emphasis on e-business. She has enjoyed a 20-year career in print media, marketing and the computer industry. She established and managed two businesses. She is a self-confessed internet junkie and believes the internet is the most important democratizing tool in human history.
		Balson, Director Michael is one of Australia’s most experienced and highly awarded documentary makers, with dozens of international documentaries to his credit. He has directed, edited, shot and written Natural History, Adventure, Cultural and Environmental documentaries for all Australian and International Broadcasters, including many for The Discovery Channel and National Geographic. Michael has won AFI, Logi, and US ACE awards for Directing, Editing and Soundtrack. Today he is ‘horizontally-integrated’, multi-tasking as Producer/Director/Camera/Sound/Writer and Editor … completing production on Final Cut Pro. Since moving to Byron Shire 12 years ago, Michael has completed over 30 hours of documentaries, for Television Broadcasters all over the World and still feels his best work is ahead of him!
		Sally Fryer, Editor Sally Fryer is Editor and Associate Producer at Shark Island Productions and a Director of the Shark Island Documentary Fund. She has cut over 100 documentaries and has 20 years experience as a freelance documentary film editor both in London and Sydney. She worked principally for the BBC and Channel 4 in the UK and for the ABC and SBS since arriving in Australia in 1998. She has worked on a wide range of high quality documentaries from politics to food, dance to medicine, anthropology to sexuality, and with some of the industry’s most experienced directors as well as with ‘first timers’, enjoying the challenges of both. She has just completed The Oasis, a hard hitting feature documentary about homeless kids who living on the streets of inner Sydney. Before that she edited In the Company of Actors, premiered at the Sydney Film Festival, 2007. Sally is married and is the very proud mother of two beautiful young boys, Louie and Thommo, and a dog called Mullet.
		Dillon, AM, Director of Photography Mike Dillon has won more awards in the field of Expedition Documentary direction and cinematography than any other individual worldwide. His OA was awarded not only for pioneering efforts in documentary-making, but also for international humanitarian work. He won Australia’s top award for Documentary Cinematography, the ACS Golden Tripod Award two years in succession, for films about the Bicentennial camel race and an expedition with Sir Edmund Hillary in India. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and was awarded the inaugural Australian Geographic Silver Medallion for Excellence in 1986. He was the first Australian to win the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award. Mike is a founding Director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation.
		Vanessa Gorman, Story Consultant and Specialist Researcher Over the last 20 years Vanessa has worked as writer, director and producer on programs as diverse as Beyond 2000 and the ABC Arts program Review. She has also directed four hour-length feature documentaries. Since the late 90’s, she has been a director/producer on the ABC’s esteemed biographical documentary series Australian Story, including stories on actor/comedian Gary MacDonald and Wayne Bennett, coach of the Brisbane Broncos. In 2000 Vanessa produced, directed and wrote “Losing Layla”, an intensely personal video diary documentary about the death of her baby daughter. The film won the ATOM Award for best documentary in 2001. In 2005, Penguin Australia published Layla’s Story, now into it’s third reprint. Vanessa is also a freelance print journalist. Vanessa lives in the Northern Rivers region with her son Raphael, 6, and daughter Francesca, 3.
		Jenny Lalor, Executive Producer Jenny has been working in legal and business affairs in film and television for over fifteen years.  In private practice in Melbourne until 1990, she then worked in London between 1990 and 2000. While in the UK she worked across all genres for the BBC, Carlton Television and Tiger Aspect Productions.   In the course of her career, Jenny has been involved in deals with a number of international distributors and broadcasters including, Discovery and National Geographic.  Since returning to Melbourne in 2000, she has worked on a variety of film and television projects as a producer and executive producer, as well running her own practice specializing in entertainment law. She lives in Melbourne and has two children.
		Lisa Siganto, Executive Producer Lisa is a natural ‘change agent’ and a mentor affiliated with Social Ventures Australia. She is passionately involved with creating social change through a number of not for profit organisation, particularly East Timor, the challenges facing African immigrants, and the care and support of people with end-of-life experience. She has had a substantial career enabling change in some of the leaders in Australian commerce. She has been a partner at Deloitte’s, Brisbane, an associate with McKinzie’s and has managed a family business with 33 employees. Since earning her MBA from Harvard and Honours in civil engineering, Lisa has pursued her interest in human transformation. She is married to Greg and has four children, Jack, Anna, Florence and Lilly and Bridie the border collie. They live in Brisbane in the middle of their extended families with a total of eleven siblings between them.