Moffitt

There’s Always Something to Learn about Parenting
By Will Moffitt, CPC Chairman

If your family is at all like mine, you have had some conversations recently about the shootings at Santee High School near San Diego. At dinner, we have talked about our schools, our community, the apparent increase in school violence and weapons on campuses in other communities across the country, articles we’ve read … and the conversations go on and on. We frequently wind up with more questions than answers.

In a column last October, I talked about the Community Prevention Council of La Cañada Flintridge (CPC), an organization that is dedicated to prevent the problems of drug use while promoting and supporting youth and their families in our community. This partnership of community organizations and health care professionals is a great source for the latest information on parenting skills, troubled child behavior and prevention strategies on substance abuse.

This school year, the PTA Council of La Cañada Unified School District, in partnership with the Community Prevention Council, has hosted a series of evening forums providing tips and techniques for parents. The third forum will be held at Paradise Canyon Elementary School on Wednesday, April 4^th at 7 p.m. The topic is “Building Assets to Help Pre-Teens Succeed.” Four high school students will kick things off by sharing strategies they have used to resist peer pressure and successfully navigate through their middle school years. Dr. John Bakaly, Hillside Learning Center psychologist, will discuss ways for parents to improve communication skills that build parent-teen trust, and other tips for parent/child success during pre-teen and teen years and beyond.

Parents will also learn from Donna Robinson, principal at Paradise Canyon, what resources and plans are in place in the La Cañada Unified School District, as well as other mental health resources offered through referral by the school district.

The Community Prevention Council will be hosting an evening forum for parents of 7-12 grade students in early May, as well as providing speakers to various youth-related programs in our community. In addition, the CPC recently launched a web site, which is a good source for information and 1-800 hotline numbers to obtain help for a variety of problems that face students and families: www.wmadigital.com/cpc.

With our partners, the school district is pursuing a more personalized education and help for students and their families. We are working to transform the school culture so that it becomes a more civil, caring and purposeful community where all students feel safe, valued and welcomed. Partnering to help kids is really making a difference.