Scary Things

Recently, there have been some scary things going on in Granville. I’m not talking about the Halloween festivities, or eerie costumes, or a plethora of “spider webbing” hanging all around. I mean the incidents where someone was approaching young children and possibly enticing them to enter his vehicle. This activity would be the nightmare of everyone on Elm Street, but also of any parent I know. Especially if the child actually listened to what that guy had to say and got in the car.

As Mental Health America of Licking County's Director of Prevention, I have spent many years helping teach children how they can prevent such a nightmare from happening. I am proud to say that when these events happened, Granville Elementary School counselor Dianne Ryan was very much on top of things. We generally provide the Child Abuse Prevention Program (CAPP) to them in the latter half of the school year. It’s great to say that we have presenters in that school this week and next. She wanted to share all this important information with their students immediately, with special emphasis on how to avoid “stranger danger” and keep their students safe.

Child safety is something we all should be aware of at this trick or treating time of year. As a parent, we may be sure that our children wear glow in the dark clothing or reflective strips on their costumes. We may tell our children that they can’t eat any candy until we have looked at every single piece of it and checked it all out. But, do we also tell them to be very careful of strangers who try to entice them into cars, vans, homes, or even bushes? Do we talk with our children about the possibility that those people who want to hurt them may hold up a big chocolate bar or empty dog leash and plead with them to come help? Do we encourage our children to yell loudly if someone makes them feel uncomfortable in any way and always tell an adult when that might happen? Do we assume that because our children are in middle school or high school, they can take care of themselves? As parents, when do we ever get permission to stop parenting?

A parent of a first grader at Granville sent me an email asking about CAPP and if the program, or curriculum, could be evaluated. I responded in great detail and have heard nothing more. I appreciate that parent taking time to ask about our program. That is an active parent. All parents are more than welcome to ask any of our program coordinators about their programs. I am so glad that there are people in our community who help care for and about our children. MHALC has several of them employed here. The Child Abuse Prevention Program is simply one way to help keep kids safe, whether it is from stranger danger, bullying, or known-assailant assault. But the very best resource we have to keeping our children safe is the first person they see, the first person who should talk to them about these issues before things happen – their parent.

For more information please send me an email by clicking here, or you can reach me by phone at 740-522-2277.

--Jan GreenRiver

Director of Prevention

GUEST BLOG: PARENTS…A Perfect Response to Substance Use Among Youth

Remember when June Cleaver was the perfect mom? How about Carol Brady? Think back to how Cliff and Clair Huxtable were the ideal parents. What made them all great? What made us tune in every night to watch their families live life? Well, beyond the fact that they lived in “TV land” and that they always solved major family catastrophes in sixty minutes or less, they were present in their children’s lives. They interacted with their kids, they had regular sit-down dinners and they were involved in their children’s daily experiences. Most importantly, they listened to their children and parented them.

Today, in the age of technology, parents are often a second thought in their children’s lives. We allow laptops, DVRs, Ipods, PS2s and Facebook to parent our children and then wonder why they make the choices they do.  We no longer talk to our kids because they have repeatedly uttered the ever so over used line “stay out of my business,” and we have been obedient parents and heeded that request. Being a parent today isn’t an easy job. We have to juggle work, family, finances, laundry, grocery shopping, sports, extra-curricular activities, parent-teacher conferences, doctor’s appointments and birthdays, not to mention being “green” cooking with organic products and protecting our children from bullies, broken hearts and bad guys. It’s TOO MUCH! and most of us do it as single parents. We listen to the “stay out of my business” line when in reality it’s the “you don’t understand, you don’t know me or what I go through” line that is more important and truer! 

According to the 2009 PRIDE survey; Licking County youth reported that they use alcohol, tobacco and other drugs at home or at a friend’s house; that alcohol is the most widely used substance and, compared to national statistics, Licking County youth have easier access to alcohol, tobacco and marijuana and less parental disapproval of use…,but here’s the good news.

Young people today crave guidance. They (secretly) want rules and they (secretly) want you to ask all those questions that publicly they are unwilling to answer.  They want you to be involved in their lives and they want you to hold them accountable for their actions and behaviors. They want you to show interest in the person they are and the person they are becoming. In short…they want you to be their parent, not their friend! The best part of it all, thanks to June Clever, Carol Brady the Huxtables and even our own parents, you already knew that! Think back to those classic TV sitcoms, they always ate dinner together as a family, the parents were always asking their kids “how was your day honey” and their children’s friends, always talked with mom and dad when coming over to the house. 

--Bobby Persinger, CIRS, OCPS II, 

Prevention Coordinator, Pathways of Central Ohio

Our guest blogger, Bobby Persinger was a founding member of our PAVE club (Prevent Assault & Violence Education) in 1997 as a 15 year old freshman at Newark High School. Today, an OSU graduate with a degree in counseling psychology, he works with youth as Prevention Coordinator 
at Pathways of Central Ohio and he credits his PAVE experience for his rewarding career choice. Bobby is a certified prevention specialist and crisis response specialist.