WELDON — Parents came from all over North Carolina and gathered at The Centre at Halifax Community College Saturday for the Project ASPIRE Parent Summit. There were workshops, other information and the keynote speaker was former TV judge and author Glenda Hatchett.

Project ASPIRE — which stands for Abstinence Standards Promote Individual Respect and Education — is a federal grant awarded to Halifax County Schools helping to provide an abstinence-based education curriculum aimed at preventing unplanned pregnancies. Mamie Jordan, who manages the program for Halifax Schools as executive director, plans for additional parent summits in future years.

“We’re also planning ‘satellite summits,’” Jordan said. Those satellite summits would take place in some of Halifax County’s smaller towns such as Enfield, Hollister and Scotland Neck.

Judge Hatchett, formerly of the Judge Hatchett Show and writer of the best-selling book “Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say,” anchored the summit by focusing her presentation on what she termed the three “C’s” of sound parenting — Consistency, Concern and Cheering for our children.

Hatchett said her time as a judge in Georgia and on television taught her consistency is extremely important, particularly when setting boundaries for children. “No means no. It means no today, it means no tomorrow, it means no next week.”

“I was always the person who had to leave the party early and my Daddy would come get me,” Hatchett told the crowd. “If I wasn’t out there he would come in and get me.” She used this story to illustrate how consistently pick-up times and curfews should be enforced.

“You have to be consistent in your parenting and be firm,” Hatchett explained. “Children were born to come and test you; that’s their purpose in life. If they could make decisions they wouldn’t need you.”

Hatchett’s second “C” is Concern. “We’ve got to have watchful eyes on our children.”

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Hatchett explained watchfulness comes from knowing what your child is doing and with whom they’re doing it. She said some parents fall short in this area because they’re afraid of alienating their children.

“I do not want you to have an adversarial relationship with your children,” Hatchett said. “But you are not here to be their best friend. Don’t get the roles twisted because you might be hesitant to discipline your buddy. You cannot hesitate to discipline your child. Because if you don’t do it, someone like me (a judge) is going to have to do it.”

Parental involvement in children’s lives provides one primary focus for concern. “We’ve got to be involved with our children,” Hatchett stated. “If school performance is not going well we have to fix it. When they go to a party, where are they going? You need to get to know your children’s friends. You need to know their parents.”

Such involvement begins, Hatchett said, with simply talking with your child. “If you get your child in the habit of talking to you early (in life), they’ll be in the habit of talking to you when you really need to know what’s going on later.”

She asked the parents in attendance to ask their child “how was your day?” every day and keep a log for the first 30 days to keep up with how the child answers.

Hatchett’s third area of focus was Cheering for our children. “We’ve got to tell them we believe in them,” she stated. “We’re supporting them and cheering for them.”

The jurist lamented the reliance on technology for communication. “I’m worried about all this texting and e-mail,” she explained. “Because we’re missing the hugs.”

Cheering for your children could begin, Hatchett said, with simply learning your child’s dreams. “Ask your child, what is your dream for your life? If you could do anything in the world, what would you do?”

Hatchett encouraged parents to then write the dream in bold letters and put it on their child’s ceiling above their bed, so it’s the first thing they see each morning and the last thing they see each night. “Children who are focused on their dreams are less likely to get put off-track by the distractions and devastation in the streets,” Hatchett asserted.

Hatchett concluded by sympathizing with parents on how difficult their jobs are. “Nobody said it was going to be easy,” Hatchett said. But she told the group the task is enormously important.

“Our children’s lives are at stake,” she said. “But we are bound for victory and they are bound for greatness.”

Lisa Harper Richardson, of Hollister, one of the parents in the crowd, felt impressed by Judge Hatchett’s message. “She fed us the bread and butter of what the community needs to know,” Richardson said. “Family being family and people reaching out. What you send from home, you send out your best product.”

Jacqueline Lee, a mother of three from Enfield, was happy to have been at the summit. “I think it was very good,” she stated. “It can help with situations that I deal with every day.”

“I enjoyed it,” said Vanell Simmons, of Enfield. “I’m here for my grandkids. A lot of things she said I can relate to. I agree we should be consistent in raising our children and grandchildren.”

Floyd Dickens, a father of two from Scotland Neck, appreciated Hatchett’s way of speaking. “It was a really inspirational message,” he stated. “She was down to earth speaking. She put her feelings into her speaking and it means a lot.”

“I think it’s very timely,” asserted James Davis, of Tillery. “It’s definitely needed and it was very well said.”

With the summit’s conclusion, parents now take what they’ve learned and go about the task of raising their children. As Hatchett has already explained, it’s one of the most important jobs any person will attempt.