Moorestown High School’s guidance office is trying to give parents the right resources.
In the age of the Internet, parents are inundated with information. Moorestown High School counselor Catherine Booth’s goal is ensuring parents are getting the reliable information. For that reason, Booth has added a “Trending Teen Topics” section to the MHS guidance website, which she plans to update weekly with information on subjects impacting the community.
Booth said it all started with increased reports of student vaping. She said in speaking with students and their parents, she realized there was a lot of misinformation on the topic.
She was approached by members of the Moorestown Home and School Association for information about how to address these topics with their children, and so, in early January, Booth gave a presentation on the topic.
Following the presentation, several parents told Booth they felt more equipped to have conversations with their son or daughter about vaping.
“They felt prepared to have that conversation and informed,” Booth said “I’m glad I was able to aid them in that conversation.”
Many parents who were unable to attend asked Booth to put her presentation online. She said with parents coming across so many sources online, she wanted to give them a place to access some of the research she had come across.
“I always say information is power,” Booth said. “Kids are always three steps ahead of us.”
Booth said the presentation sparked an idea. She decided she wanted to create a place on the MHS website where parents could access information about other topics affecting students. She said she started researching reliable information on drugs, alcohol and opiates to disseminate to parents.
“I found in researching [vaping] it’s so hard to find reliable, good valuable data and information,” Booth said.
While the section of the website is in its infancy stages, Booth said her goal is to update it weekly. She said she turns to national and state organizations for data, such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the FDA.
Additionally, Booth said MHS has more community outreach events on the horizon. The school’s guidance office is planning a presentation on resilience, grit and perseverance. She said the office is very interested in providing stress relief strategies for students.
For parents trying to educate themselves, Booth’s biggest piece of advice is to ask their kids questions. She said during her vaping presentation, around 90 percent of hands went up when she asked those in attendance if they’d ever heard the word JUUL, but out of the nearly 100 people in attendance, only five knew what the term meant. A JUUL is a vaping device contains the same nicotine content as one pack of cigarettes.
“They heard this word, but they’re not asking kids what it means,” Booth said.
She said whether it’s lingo or what’s going on among different age demographics, the simplest first step to addressing these topics is don’t be embarrassed to ask your teenager questions.
For more information on MHS’ Tending Teen Topics, visit http://mhs.mtps.com/for_students/school_counseling/trending_teen_topics
