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Imagine what the world would look like if we all held an uncompromising vision of what it means to love children well.

Raising children in nonviolence is an act of social justice and the foundation for creating structural transformation. When the individuals and agencies who care for children answer the call to end all power-over systems of physical and emotional punishment, and instead lead with empathy and curiosity, they lay the groundwork for generations to prevent violent and oppressive practices. Younger human beings who are raised with dignity and compassion will become the future advocates for dismantling institutional inequities steeped in racism and all other biases.

Daring to Question The Way We Raise Children

Ruth Beaglehole at TEDxRedondoBeach

Working with Ruth

  • I met Ruth and parenting with nonviolence when my now teen, was a toddler. Nothing has had a more profound impact on my family than this paradigm shift. This work has enabled my partner and I to build strong, empathic connections with all our children. It’s created a scaffolding based on emotional intelligence, co-regulation, and love in our family. That scaffolding has given us the ability to navigate the trickier parts of parenting with a lot more grace then I imagined was possible. More than that, I have found so much support and connection as a parent and a person in this community that without it, I don’t know where I would be.
    Parent of an adolescent
  • At Ruth's support groups she creates a safe space for everyone to feel heard and connected. I continually learn from Ruth and from other people’s sharing in her sessions that supports me & my child with many different situations. It prompts me to come up with new ideas of how to navigate similar issues in my life...like an aha moment just by listening. I am forever grateful to have her support on my parenting journey. I recommend her to all my fellow parents.
    Parent of six year old
  • Week after week, Ruth coached me in how to be a more loving human being. She created an incredibly safe space for us as parents, for our children, and for the inner child within us. She allowed us to be as vulnerable as we wanted to be. She modeled empathy by showing it towards us and towards our children even when we couldn't do it for ourselves and didn't think that we or they deserved it. She motivated me to be more empathetic, gave very specific feedback about whatever scenario we would bring to her, and yet left lots of space for us to have our own agency and develop our own practice with our children.
    Parent of eight year old
  • To truly shift my practice, I needed Ruth's support. As a teacher, I know that we learn when we are motivated, have strong models, get specific feedback, and we practice a lot. Ruth is an incredibly strong teacher.
    Parent of ten year old
  • Parenting is the hardest and most rewarding job I have ever had. Over the past two years, Ruth's immense expertise, tremendous insights, responsiveness, and buckets and buckets of empathy has helped me become a better mother, teacher, and human being.
    Parent of a three year old
  • Ruth sees and hears the unmet needs behind every child's behavior, and puts everything in perspective to bring families together. She has taught me to have compassion for my children, myself, and others. She models kindness, the type that can break the cycle of dominant paradigm that we grew up with and accepted as normal. She is a firm believer in our brain's plasticity and shows us how to be a better version of ourselves we want to be. I feel incredibly lucky to have Ruth's guidance while navigating the parenting journey, and hope that the lessons learned will be passed down to my children to theirs.
    Parent Educator in New Zealand
  • I’ve known Ruth for over 20 years and have greatly benefited from her support and teachings. She has provided training, technical assistance, coaching, and guidance to my staff in her nonviolent parenting and caregiving philosophy, and has helped redefine the way we work with young children. As an administrator of a large nonprofit organization, I know that I would not be able to provide my staff with a clear vision of equity and social justice in early childhood programs, if it weren’t for Ruth’s example.
    Executive Director of Child Lane