Falls Church Times » Jterry

Wanted: Caring Adults

Jterry — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:47:37 +0000

Last Fall I attended a meeting of the ‘Parents’ Coalition’, an advisory group associated with the newly formed Falls Church Alliance for Youth. The Alliance for Youth (AFY) was formed in late 2007 and serves as the primary, interagency team to address the needs of youth in Falls Church City. The AFY assumed the mission and functions of a variety of previously existing youth-related efforts, such as the Commonwealth Alliance for Drug Rehabilitation and Education, Substance Abuse Free Schools and the Gang Intervention and Prevention Committee. The AFY is comprised of representatives from the school system and local government agencies that have responsibility related to youth, such as the Police Department, Mary Riles Styles Library, Recreation and Parks, Department of Community Services, Juvenile Court Services and the Health Department. While the AFY is comprised of the professional staff members of the various agencies, the Parents’ Coalition is for any adult that wants to play a role in helping young people in our community reach their full potential.

The Alliance for Youth conducts an annual school survey of students in 6th through 12th grade in Falls Church City Public Schools (MEH and GMHS). The survey, officially known as the PRIDE survey, helps assess the use of drugs and alcohol by our young people. AFY and the Parents’ Coalition hope to use the results from the latest PRIDE survey as a catalyst to begin a community effort around the well-being and positive development of adolescents in the City. To be successful at bringing about real positive change for our young people, no resident of Falls Church can stay on the sidelines. All are on the team. Stay tuned for future updates about ways that you can support the AFY and participate with the Parents’ Coalition.

Time for Twister

Jterry — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:25:17 +0000

A new study by toy maker HearthSong reveals that a vast majority of parents engage in “active play” with their kids for six or less hours a week, and 16% report playing with them only 10 minutes a day. In other survey results, of those parents who do play with their kids, over one third (36%) say they most often play with games or toys, another quarter (27%) most often participate in unstructured play and a like number (27%) play outside, in either unstructured or structured activities such as sports.

As the school year gets underway and our schedule gets busier, it will be even harder for parents in Falls Church to dedicate time each day to play with their kids. Parents – I’m curious how much time you spend playing with your kids each week and if you think its enough. Kids – I’m curious what types of games you most like playing with your parents and if you think you get enough time each week with ‘parent playtime’. Are there enough opportunities in Falls Church for good old-fashioned play?

Police Dept. Hosts Meeting on Bullying and School Violence

Jterry — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:52:09 +0000

The Falls Church Police Department held a series of community meetings during August focused on bullying. The meetings, titled “Teen Truth: An Inside Look at Bullying and School Violence,” took place at City Hall and were led by Officer Wilson. Each meeting started with a video presentation that provided participants with an overview of the issue, some statistics related to school violence and a list of factors that lead to youth violence. Some statistics include:

15-25 percent of US students report they are bullied with some frequency
As many as 160,00 students stay home from school on any given day because of fear of bullies

The video also included disturbing 911 recordings and security camera tapes of the Columbine shootings. Following the video, Officer Wilson led a discussion about bullying and successful strategies for preventing bullying and making schools safe.

The most interesting part of the discussion focused on what schools can do to create a caring climate, so that youth feel connected to the school and to their peers. It was stressed that this is a community issue, not just a school issue, and steps should be taken to ensure that all youth in Falls Church feel supported and cared for.

Officer Wilson deserves great credit for highlighting this issue and providing a forum for discussion. The critical issue before us is: How do we respond, collectively and individually, to the challenge of making Falls Church a supportive, attentive and caring community?