Vaping Education for Parents

• A Parent’s Journey: Keys To Successful Vaping Intervention
• Thursday, January 23rd, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
• McLean Community Center

Are you worried that your kids or their friends are vaping? Do you know what to do when you find the evidence of vaping to create a safe and healthy path for quitting? According to the Fairfax Youth Survey results for 2018-19, more than 30% of surveyed students at McLean and Langley High Schools reported having vaped in the past month compared to 20% of high schoolers across Fairfax County and nationwide (https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/health-humanservices/fairfax-county-youth-survey). Kids in our area are vaping MORE than in the rest of the county.

This free evening event will include details on prevention and intervention with presentations by the following:

• McLean mom Gail Embt will share her parenting journey when teen vaping hit close to home and how her family conversations changed from confrontation to cooperation in order to change her teen’s behavior.
• A local pulmonologist, Dr. Jeff Hales, will present the latest medical updates on the health risks of vaping in youth.
• FCPS vaping expert Brian Maslowski will discuss FCPS policies regarding vaping 
• Local substance abuse specialists will discuss how to engage kids and how to develop a plan for changing behavior
• FCPD McLean Precinct law enforcement officers will discuss specifics of the law regarding vaping.

All will be available to answer questions you may have on how to keep your tween or teen safe and how to intervene if you are dealing with someone who is vaping.  

Parents who want to be part of the solution will come away with tools to assess tween and teen risk and intervention approaches from real world experiences. Even if you don’t think your kids are vaping, you need to come to this event so that you can learn how to talk to your child about the dangers of vaping and what to do if you catch them with vaping products. More details about Gail and her journey can be found here: https://www.breakthevape.com/about. For questions about the program, contact info@breakthevape.com.

Mental Health Networking and CEU Workshop with Lisa Ferentz

Join other mental health providers for networking and a full- or half-day CEU workshop with Lisa Ferentz. Lisa will spend the morning with us providing a program on ethics (The Slippery Slope of Clinical Practice: Processing Ethical Scenarios) for 3 Ethics CEUs and in the afternoon working with patients in trauma (Creative Strategies to Enhance Affect Regulation in Traumatized Clients) for an additional 3 CEUs. Click here for more information and registration.

ADL experts discuss ways for parents and children to respond to inappropriate jokes and slurs

Coming Soon! Author of Social Media Wellness, Ana Homayoun

Like: A Documentary about the Impact of Social Media on Our Lives

More than 2 billion people have smartphones today. And we check our phones on average an incredible 150 times every day. Technology makes our lives easier in so many ways ― but what is the cost of our dependence, and our children’s reliance, on screens?

As part of a yearlong focus on social media wellness, the Safe Community Coalition, in conjunction with the PTSAs of Langley High School and McLean High School, hosted two screenings of the compelling new IndieFlix Original documentary “LIKE” at Langley and McLean High Schools. Nearly 400 students and parents attended! Check out these tips we learned! Langley High also showed the film to freshman and sophomores and McLean showed it to freshmen. Ask them about it!

“LIKE” reveals the true effects of technology on the brain and uncovers the impact social media can have on our lives. The film’s mission is to educate, inform and inspire people to effectively self-regulate their screen time. The film features interviews with experts including Max Stossel, Head of Education & Content at Center for Humane Technology; Leah Pearlman,Co-Creator of the Facebook “Like” button; Dr. Jerry Bubrick, Senior Psychologist at Child Mind Institute; Professor Jevin West, DataLab, iSchool, University of Washington; John Borthwick, CEO of Betaworks; and Professor Katie Davis, author of The App Generation.

After the film, Dr. Clifford Sussman, a DC-based psychiatrist and expert on helping people achieve a more balanced relationship with digital technology, led a Q&A.

If your child is active on any kind of social media, you need these resources. Find out more about the film at www.thelikemovie.com, including options for additional screenings.