On August 19-21 Public health office of Marijampolė municipality organizing an educational event for parents. The educational event was intended to educate parents on the topics of the JPSPP 8 algorithm:
For prevention against alcohol consumption;
For prevention against the use of psychoactive substances;
For prevention against depression;
For the prevention of suicides and self-harm;
For prevention against sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy;
For prevention against eating disorders;
For the prevention of health problems related to overweight and obesity;
For prevention against sexual violence.
30 parents gathered for the educational event, the event was held for three days at the Panemunis homestead in Biršton. The program of the event consisted of 4 p.m. practical and theoretical sessions.
It is becoming more and more difficult to maintain a harmonious, respectful and mutually understanding relationship between teenagers and parents, because the young generation is too focused on the world of media and social networks, they don’t want to open up, talk about their problems, and sometimes parents lose their balance or fail to notice important signs during their routine. sent by their child, cannot recognize the cases, and otherwise do not know how to help or misjudge the seriousness of the situation.
The experience of various countries shows that prevention programs and measures are much more effective if parents are involved. Parents must know that part of the risk factors are precisely problems in the family, that it is very important to strengthen family ties.
During the educational event, lecturer Evelina Vainoriene talked about the role of parents in prevention and the benefits of early speaking, about contact techniques, active listening and communication with young people, how to motivate young people for change, how to build a relationship with young people. By having a connection with the youth, we will be able to help solve the pressing problems of the youth related to the 8 algorithms. They talked about eating disorders in children and teenagers, about the body and the relationship with it, what influences eating disorders, how to avoid it or what to do if your child has encountered it. We also discussed health problems related to weight and obesity, the importance of physical activity and why we need to adopt healthy eating habits.
Lecturer Renata Latvėnienė led classes aimed at strengthening mental health, because in order to be able to solve other people’s problems, we need to be strong inside, knowing our feelings will help us find a way to the other person’s feelings more easily. Other sessions covered family patterns, lack of feelings leading to resistance to activities and life, depression, suicide and self-harm, boundaries and when to say no?, sexual violence, sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy. What feelings are compensated by bad habits (alcohol, drugs, unhealthy food, etc.). How to change them?
With lecturer Dovile Navikiene, topics such as the use of alcohol and psychoactive substances at a young age, how to behave in order not to start using, how to talk about the use of these substances and why it is necessary to talk about it, were discussed. Does the parent’s behavior lead by example? In the prevention programs carried out in schools, children are told about the harm of smoking, alcohol, and drugs. Meanwhile, at home, they often hear and see something else – a significant number of parents smoke and drink alcohol. The child is confused in such a situation – what to believe, how to behave?
The participants of the educational event shared their experiences, joined all the activities very willingly, and gained a lot of useful knowledge. They will be able to apply the acquired knowledge not only in their own family, but they will be able to share it with other families as well.
We are very happy that parents contribute to the development of prevention and of course we are happy that they care about the future of children!