Eye to Eye: Discussing Sensitive Topics with Youth

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There is a flurry of activity at the Oregon School Based Health Alliance lately as our  Youth Action Council prepares for our 2014 School Health Conference pre-conference workshop: Eye to Eye on Thursday, October 9th from 1-4 PM. We attended the July national School-Based Health Alliance Convention in Seattle and we also went down to Eugene to partner with Planned Parenthood Southwestern Oregon and Columbia Willamette. So now, we’ve started working on a workshop based on the knowledge and experience we’ve gained this past year. Our pre-conference workshop is three hours long and incorporates both hands-on learning experiences as well as open discussion. We are creating a training where the attendees will be active and engaged.

The workshop focuses on a topic that is elusive to many adults: being confided in by teens. Of course any responsible adult seeks out trust in the teens in their life, but when that situation occurs it can be immensely difficult to handle. What if a teen is engaged in risky behavior? What if you suspect a teen is in an abusive relationship? Our pre-conference workshop Eye to Eye will give solid advice that only teens can provide for how to talk to, well, us! There will be ample time for questions and discussion with us, which we have found in the past to be both constructive for the adults in the room as well as ourselves. We have also incorporated networking time in which we know will lead to not only professional relationships but personal development.

With only one week left to polish off our interactive workshop I suppose I should feel the pressure to deliver, however with the competence and motivation I see almost every day from my fellow YAC members I am supremely confident that those who make the wise decision to attend our workshop will be inspired. I hope that anyone who is interested in helping the teens in their life flourish makes the time to show up. I look forward to seeing those of you who do!