Event helps parents and educators better understand today’s youth

“There are so many things going on with our youth,” Hrabinsky said. “Our parents work really hard to support our school and educators work hard to support students, but it’s bringing everyone together to figure out how to support all our youth.”

Hrabinsky said relationships are very important for students, particularly when it comes to things happening in the community. She added the community needs to stay strong as a group to support them.

The superintendent said education for parents about what shapes today’s youth’s world can really help them set their children on the right path.

“Our parents need education on what gangs are, what stressors are and how to handle them. How parents can deal with mental stress themselves, because kids will mirror how we deal with things. It is knowledge on how to support youth, but knowledge on how to support yourself as a parent, which in turn will help you support your child.”

One of the best attended presentations was about social media’s effect on youth mental health, presented by Melissa Fuhr who works at John Paul II Collegiate in North Battleford.

She said social media is simply something parents have to deal with when it comes to their children, and although it has its positive aspects, it can also have a lot of negatives if not handled in a healthy way.

“Studies have shown that more time online leads to depression and anxiety [in youths],” Fuhr said. “There is also a sleep factor. Youths are using their phones and technology into the night and not getting the sleep they need, which impacts their mental health in an adverse way because they are not getting the sleep they need to develop normally.”

According to Fuhr, the brain needs about an hour to calm down after being stimulated by a device before it can prepare to sleep.

Fuhr said it is important to make sure children socialize in person instead of just online. She added online socialization is just a sliver of reality.

“They’re comparing themselves to others online, looking for those likes and not getting what they need out of social media, which leads to anxiety and depression. The more time they do spend face to face with their friends, the more they get those social cues and learn how to communicate better.”

Fuhr said the most important part of in-person social interaction, is students realize that no one is perfect and everyone messes up sometimes, so they won’t judge themselves as harshly.

As for the overall event itself, Hrabinsky considered it a big success and said she is looking forward to expanding it next year.

Ultimately Hrabisnky said the goal of the event was to give the local school community council build a better relationship with youth and she hopes others will follow suit.

“From a provincial aspect we hope to continue with this and that every year it will get bigger and better,” Hrabinsky said. That way other school community councils can network better with each other to support the whole province.”

greg.higgins@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @realgreghiggins

by Greg Higgins

Event helps parents and educators better understand today’s youth

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