The district hosted a Risky Behaviors Seminar on Wednesday March 2 in the Central Middle School atrium to educate parents, students and community members about dangerous student choices.
Three speakers came to teach Parkway students, teachers and other community members about specific “risky behaviors” such as drug abuse, internet safety and unsafe games, such as the choking game.
“What I hope parents take away from my presentation is that it’s important to talk about internet safety topics the same way we talk to them about all the other safety topics,” Jason Rooks, director of technology innovation, said. “We talk to our kids about ‘don’t do drugs’ and ‘don’t drink alcohol’ and ‘don’t smoke’ and the danger of those things, but we seem to feel free to let our children on the internet without going over those same safety measures.”
Tim Corteville, Parkway West health teacher, attended to show his support of the event.
“I’ve listened to a lot of these folks speak before, and they have guided me to be a lot more honest with students in class,” Corteville said. “I try to combine the honest truth of what drugs to do people in terms of their positive effects with the science on what can happen on the unhealthy side of the human body in hopes to get kids to trust you and in the message you’re trying to send.”
Multiple foundations, such as The Crossroads program, Center Pointe Hospital, Alliance for Healthy Communities and others set up booths with information about the risks and spread awareness for their organizations.
Many parents who attended the seminar gathered information from these groups and from the speakers in hopes of being able to better educate their children about the risks that some behavior trends carry.
“I know there are a lot of challenges that middle school and high school students face, and as a parent I want to be as informed as I can be,” Kate Smith, a Parkway parent who chose not to share her last name to protect her daughter, said.
Mike Weiland, counselor in The Crossroads Program, talked about these challenges, specifically the different drugs and substances that are abused by younger people.
Weiland shared with attendees that he believes that marijuana is the worst drug people could put into their bodies.
This topic and others presented that evening resonated with many in attendance, who came for a variety of reasons.
“I just wanted to be a good representative for the high school and learn more about the community and what’s going on with this topic,” senior Josh Konecek said.
Konecek supports the district’s decision to host this event for the broader Parkway community rather than simply educating students through health classes or other outlets.
“Risky behaviors, to me, are just a threat to the good things that a lot of the kids are choosing to do,” Konecek said. “It’s something that everyone needs to be aware of — including parents.”