CASE STORIES
APPENDICES
CASE STORIES
Story 1 : Migrant Parent Worker – WeChat ’ s indispensable role in communication and learning
Liu Fanghua , a 29-year-old factory employee and mother of a four-year-old son has come to learn about the importance of communication and accessing knowledge in her role as a responsible parent .
Since the past six years Fanghua has been working in the material inspection section of a factory in Chongqing , not too far from her hometown in Changzhou County . She works on morning and night shifts that rotate on a monthly basis , and has worked her way up to a managerial position . Although the pay is not as good as some of her previous jobs , she feels fortunate because it enables her to live with her son every second month . During the night shift , Fanghua stays in the factory dorm while her son is taken care of by his grandparents and father . Her husband is also tied up with work and rarely comes home early . As a result , her grandparents play an indispensable role in her son ' s upbringing .
“ I trust my parents when it comes to feeding my son and keeping him warm and sound , but I think there is huge difference when it comes to parenting styles as their style is seemingly outdated ”, says Fanhua . The boy ' s grandparents always keep him inside instead of letting him play outdoors with other children , as they are afraid of him having an accident or sustaining unnecessary injuries “, she explains . “ I think this definitely affects his personality and development of social skills , so I take him out a lot to parks and friend gatherings whenever I get a chance ”.
Fanghua ' s concerns are not uncommon – a gaping generational gap exists between many parents and their elderly parents , particularly vis-à-vis parenting and access to information .
Fanghua , like many , considers WeChat her favorite app . She spends most of her free time browsing " Moments " for updates from her friends , reading articles on parenting and child education from several WeChat public accounts and video chatting with families and friends .
During a CCR CSR face-to-face parenting training session in her factory in July 2015 , Fanghua learned about the WeSupport eLearning platform on WeChat and started using it . “ I learnt so many useful tips about remote parenting and communication in that session that I scanned the CCR CSR ’ s WeChat QR code as soon as I knew that more e-courses and weekly posts are available on that platform ” Fanghua said in the interview .
Since Fanghua only returns home every second month , WeChat has become an important tool in maintaining frequent contact with her son . She uses the video chat function twice a week to communicate with him . Lessons like “ Effective long distance communication ” and “ How to make most use of gathering time ” on the WeSupport eLearning platform have given her practical guidance on remote parenting , dealing with hard situations and building trust with her child .
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