-
The Wydown Counseling Department will be sponsoring a quarterly parent speaker series during the 2022-2023 school year. Zoom links will be added closer to the date. More dates in the series coming soon...
Teens between the ages of 12-15 experience many physical, mental, emotional, and social changes. They begin to think more for themselves, have their own interests and may care more about their appearance and more about what their peers think than what their parents think. For many, this age is when they first begin to develop their own identity. At an alarming rate, they develop eating disorders, body image issues, depression, peer pressures for drugs alcohol, sexting and more. They tend to reduce their affection and time spent with parents, and at times behave in unkind ways towards the self, family members, friends and peers. Many early teens may notice a decline in grades and academic performance and interests due to both biological and societal reasons.Thankfully, it is not all doom and gloom as teens are rapidly developing an increase in their ability for more complex planning, thinking and follow through on plans, activities, or projects. Their verbal and reasoning skills are also rapidly increasing which lends to greater opportunities for interpersonal and intrapersonal growth. And contrary to popular opinion, most teens do still listen to and want to please their parents. This is a great reason to review information regarding gender identity and attraction. This presentation expands on these concepts and offers practical skills, engaging stories and practical options for helping ourselves and our teens during this exciting and sometimes trying stage of development. There will be time for questions and discussion throughout this presentation.
PAST EVENTS
Between the ages of 12 to 15, boys undergo a pivotal phase of character development. During these years, they shore up the identities of the men they’ll become. However, we have a situation on our hands: The world today is complex. Technology, social media, current events, and dynamic shifts in culture have exposed modern youth to complicated concepts and situations at a much younger age. Children are navigating the ideas of adulthood in nearly every interaction. Yet, they have limited access to male role models. Meanwhile, they are receiving conflicting definitions of masculinity. In movies and tv, they see “macho” male idols while, at the same time, hear echoes from society that “men are bad.” Amidst these convoluted expectations and assumptions, boys will turn to their friends, celebrities, video games, and the internet to learn how to “be a man.” The result is a patchwork manhood. This presentation will address these issues and offer practical solutions to help support our boys through this critical time in their development.
Bryan Pearlman will host a parent event about the topic of teen stress and anxiety. Things have changed so much since we were in middle school. The level of stress and anxiety that adolescents and teens face right now is at an all-time high. Our kids are dealing with non-stop social media, living through a pandemic, peer pressure, and more. This parent meeting will include strategies on how to best communicate and support your middle school child. The session will be led by Dr. Bryan Pearlman. Bryan is an author, former school principal, a mental health therapist at Dr. Lena Pearlman & Associates (STLmentalhealth.com), and professor of education psychology.
Recording of this presentation, password: kM8+iA=.
Tony Tramelli, LPC, at West County Behavioral, will host a parent event about social media, gaming, and safe and responsible technology among adolescents. There will be more information posted soon about this zoom event. If you have additional questions, please contact your grade level counselor for more information.
Click here to view a flyer with more details about this event.
Unfortunately, this event was unable to be recorded.
