Queensland parents can now attend free Triple P - Positive Parenting Program Seminars to help them raise children and teenagers who are able to navigate challenges in real life and online, with the Queensland Government funding hundreds of Raising Resilient Children (Focus on Cyberbullying) seminars to be held over the coming three year period.

The Raising Resilient Children (Focus on Cyberbullying) Seminar has many ideas, strategies, and real-life examples to help parents build up children's capacity to cope with stress and difficulty, including challenges they may face while navigating life online and on social media. Families can learn general strategies to help raise emotionally resilient children, with a focus on examples of challenges encountered online.

There is a high demand for parenting advice and support in this area, with children accessing websites, live multi-player gaming and social media from an earlier age. While monitoring and supervision are crucial, at some point children and teenagers also need to be able to make good decisions on their own.

"Just as with other rules of social etiquette which need to be taught, explained and modelled by parents, parents need to teach kids what is safe, reasonable and appropriate when it comes to communicating via the internet and social media, through email, and on mobile phones," says Triple P's Professor Matt Sanders. "As they get older, children also need to learn to navigate the web for themselves, and to manage and control their usage and what sites they go to and how they talk to others online."

Right now, parents can attend the free seminars "virtually", as they're being offered via video conference. The virtual seminars have proven popular, as parents can attend from anywhere in the state, rather than having to wait until a seminar is scheduled at their local school, kindergarten or community centre.Parents have also given positive feedback about the new format, saying it's easier to attend without having to organise childcare or travel - and of course, without having to worry about social distancing.

However as life returns to normal, in-person seminars will also return.

To register and see all upcoming seminars, visit the session calendar.