Pledge to keep kids safe: join SafeHomes on Facebook

Posted on 24. Nov, 2009 by kchristieh in parenting, social networking

For years, the Community Prevention Council of La Canada Flintridge has been encouraging area parents to take the following pledge:

“I will not allow minors to consume beer, wine, alcohol, or use illegal drugs in my home or on my property. I will not allow parties or gatherings in my home without proper adult supervision.”

Parents who are willing to agree to that have long been asked to join SafeHomes, an online, password-protected database that allows parents to see which other parents have agreed to the pledge, and therefore to know which homes are more likely to host safe parties and events.

This evening, Community Prevention Council chair Will Moffitt created a SafeHomes group on Facebook. People who join the group agree to abide by the pledge. For those of us who visit Facebook daily, it’ll be much easier to access than the password-protected database, and it’ll make it easy to get in touch with fellow group members.

I hope you’ll join. The more people that join, the more valuable a resource this will be.

The best Red Ribbon Week posters

Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by kchristieh in education, life lessons, parenting

One of my goals this year as PTSA President is to make Red Ribbon Week more meaningful. It’s tough to communicate an anti-drug, anti-drinking message to cynical high school kids, especially when so many of them have already experimented with these substances.

Anne Tryba saved the day. She volunteered to be the Red Ribbon Week Chair about a month before it took place, and not only managed to stage an essay contest that garnered nearly 200 entries, but she created the following four posters. These aren’t of the mere “Just say no” variety. I think they’re very effective at shocking kids to take a second look at the consequences of their decisions.

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When “music festival” really means “rave.” Plus, how I lost respect for the San Manuel Indian Nation.

Posted on 20. Oct, 2009 by kchristieh in health, music, parenting, startling statistics

The Sheriff’s Deputy that spoke at last Friday’s Red Ribbon Week PTSA meeting spoke fast, since he had lots of ground to cover. We learned the effects of various drugs on the body, we heard which ones are abused the most in our community, and we saw examples of how students hide drugs at school

One of the most fascinating things I learned was that “music festival” is often a euphemism for “rave.” The Deputy said that when kids say they’re going to a music festival, it usually means they’re going to a rave. He described raves as having loud music, flashing lights, casual sex and lots of drugs. (Here’s the Urban Dictionary definition of a rave.) He said they’re often held in convention centers, warehouses or the desert, and any security that’s there can either be bought off so they ignore the drugs or is just concerned about weapons, not drugs.

Here’s an example of a “music festival” this weekend: 2009 Cypress Hill Smokeout Festival. It’s being held at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, which is named for the San Manuel Indian Nation. The San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino is also a sponsor of SmokeOut, as are LA Weekly, MySpace and Jack in the Box. In case you have doubts that SmokeOut isn’t purely a music festival, here’s a screenshot of the homepage:

And don’t miss Saturday’s expert session: “For musicians, marijuana has long proved to be a source of creative inspiration. For listeners, music and marijuana is the perfect stoner cocktail. Smoke a joint, blunt or bong, and kick back and enjoy your favorite tunes.”

The Deputy also informed us that much of the marijuana consumed locally comes from legal medical dispensaries. He said that kids will go and tell a doctor (or should I put that in quotes?) that they have a headache or some other pain, and will be prescribed marijuana for it. They’ll then re-sell the marijuana at the school for a profit. If you’re not sure how this works, perhaps you can learn at the Medical Marijuana Expo at SmokeOut. Don’t worry about having difficulty finding a medical marijuana dispensary: this past Sunday’s NY Times article, “Los Angeles Prepares for Clash over Marijuana“, says that, “There are more marijuana stores here than public schools. Signs emblazoned with cannabis plants or green crosses sit next to dry cleaners, gas stations and restaurants.” For the record, I voted for legalizing marijuana for medical purposes here in California. I never imagined that it would be this unregulated, however, and that it could wind up in the hands of children.

Hopefully parents will understand what this really is before they let their kids attend. And if they do attend, hopefully they won’t drive while they’re high.

PTSA President 3.0: I have the gavel

Posted on 01. Jun, 2009 by kchristieh in education, local news, my life

Today I achieved the Triple Crown of PTA: I was installed as President of our high school’s PTSA. I’ve already been an elementary school PTA president and a junior high school PTA president, so I’m optimistic that those have prepared me well for this job. Unlike parenting, which gets more difficult as the kids get older, PTA President gets easier. At the elementary school I had 90 (!) positions under me, with numerous fundraisers, room representatives, docents and programs. When you added a dash of confusion over PTA bylaws, it got stressful at times. At the high school, we have only a few straightforward fundraisers, no room reps (our kids would kill us!), one program (Red Ribbon Week – any ideas?) and no docents. I’ve got a GREAT group of people on my Executive Board, and all have years of experience. I’m following in the steps of an amazing woman, and she’s done a wonderful job of paving the way.

We’re looking forward to another great year!

Why do teens do stupid things?

Posted on 22. Jun, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, my life, parenting, tv

Now that both my kids are in high school, we frequently discuss why some kids are making poor choices regarding sex, drugs and alcohol. Here are a few theories my kids have come up with:

• The kids are bored
• They’re not supervised
• They have free time because they’re not in sports and they don’t do their homework
• They have enough money to buy drugs
• They want to fit in

Whenever I challenge these, my kids rightfully say I shouldn’t attack them, because they’re not doing these things. They’re right – I’m just expressing my frustration, because none of these are good reasons to make dangerous choices.

But what can be done to prevent kids from making these choices? Other than the fact that drunk driving rates are half of what they were 20 years ago, kids are still doing the same stupid things kids did when I was in high school. This is in spite of abstinence education, red ribbon week, character education, etc.

In today’s NYTimes editorial, When Preaching Flops, David Brooks says

Deciding is conscious and individual, but perceiving is subconscious and communal. The teen sex programs that actually work don’t focus on the sex. They focus on the environment teens live in. They work on the substratum of perceptions students use to orient themselves in the world. They don’t try to lay down universal rules, but apply the particular codes that have power in distinct communities. They understand that changing behavior changes attitudes, not the other way around.

I’m not sure exactly what he’s recommending, but it sounds like he’d definitely scrap programs that just throw a bunch of aphorisms at kids. I think that aphorisms are useful to define a community’s beliefs, but otherwise agree that they’re not likely to change behavior.

So what would I prescribe? Here are some initial ideas:

• More parental involvement and awareness (but how can we reach the parents who really need it?)
• Smaller class sizes so teachers could have a better idea of what’s really going on
• More afterschool activities for kids (though I think some kids would be bored even if Disneyland were down the street and the ocean were up the street)
• No World of Warcraft or Halo to suck up (mostly) boys’ time
• No music videos that normalize skanky dance moves, revealing clothing and promiscuous culture

Anyone have any other ideas? It’s painful to see great kids making poor choices, and if there were anything we could implement in our community, it would be rewarding to help save some of these kids from themselves.

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Convincing kids not to drink or do drugs

Posted on 27. Oct, 2006 by kchristieh in education, health

There’s no better testimony for something good or bad than someone who’s experienced it themselves. That’s why I think that today’s Red Ribbon Week speaker was so effective. (For those who don’t know, Red Ribbon Week is a PTA program designed to educate kids about the dangers of substance abuse.)

The speaker, a former writer for a top comedy show, is a recovered alcoholic and drug addict. He spoke very frankly about how he got to a point so low that he lost his job, his friends, his girlfriend, and his own self-worth. Some of his descriptions were pretty graphic, but I bet they’ll stick in kids’ minds for a long time. My son said that the kids say it’s the best assembly they’ve ever seen, and they’ve see a lot of assemblies over the years.

Our PTA’s aim was to make Red Ribbon Week more substantive this year than it has been in the past, and I think we succeeded. If this guy’s talk persuades even one kid not to go down a bad path, then it’s all worthwhile.