A series of sessions is being offered to help provide New Westminster parents and caregivers with information on current and emerging topics.
The Parents' Night Out series will get underway on Tuesday, Nov. 1, when speakers will talk about sex education. Followup sessions will tackle a variety of topics: helping kids navigate anxiety; Internet and social media awareness; building positive relationships with your child; and trends in teen alcohol and drug use.
Dan Kalivoda, the school district's community school coordinator, encourages parents of all school-aged children to attend.
"I really believe they will get something valuable and tangible to work with," he said. "I am a parent. We have to navigate this stuff on our own."
The Parents' Night Out series builds on three sessions that the community school program offered last year. Parents' feedback helped organizers come up with topics.
"They were very well received from the parents who were there," Kalivoda said. "It's there for parents. Parents need to let us know what they want to see."
While previous sessions targeted parents of middle school and high school students, Kalivoda said organizers believe the sessions are valuable to all parents.
Parents' Night Out kicks off with a session about sex education. It's being held in the John Robson Elementary School gym on Tuesday, Nov. 1 from 7 to 9 p.m.
"Discussing sexual health can be embarrassing," said a poster about the event. "This lighthearted workshop delivers straight and current facts. Leave well equipped with clear concepts and answers to the question children of all ages (or don't ask). Work together to promote good sexual decisions for a lifetime."
All five sessions runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Light refreshments and child-minding will be provided.
The Parents' Night Out series will continue in the new year: the Jan. 19 session about helping kids navigate anxiety will take place at Glenbrook Middle School; the Feb. 15 session about Internet and social media awareness will take place at Queensborough Middle School; the March 14 session about building positive relationships with your child will take place at New Westminster Secondary School; and the April 11 session about trends in teen alcohol and drug use will take place at Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary.
The Parents' Night Out series is sponsored by the school district, the New Westminster Police Service, New Westminster parks, culture and recreation, Fraserside Community Services and the New Westminster Teachers' Union. For more, contact Dan Kalivoda at 604-517-5995.
tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com
