Since launching in September 2020, Upstream Parent and our expert partners have provided Cortland County parents with quite the range of health & wellness articles to help you manage the toughest topics with your teens. Here are some great articles you may have missed. As always, please reach out if there is a topic you’d like to see us write about in 2021!
Click on the titles below to check out these articles!
#1. Let’s Talk About…Sex
“The Talk.” The one that can be the most dreaded, potentially most awkward conversation you will ever have with your children. Sex education basics may be covered in health class, but your youth might not fully understand everything they need to know to make tough choices about sex.
Join Nikole Hurlbert, Health Educator at the Cortland County Health Department, as she guides you through the intimidating task of talking to your kids about sex!
# 2. Feeling Overwhelmed with All the Letters in LGBTQIA+ Community? Check Out Our Tips for Understanding the Rainbow
It can feel like a tongue-twister – LGBTQIA+ Eight syllables is a lot, and knowing what each letter stands for (plus remembering all the identities that are included in the plus sign) can be a challenge, even for members within the community. The good news is, as a supportive parent, you don’t have to memorize every identity and definition that exists.
Sam Adams, Program Coordinator for the Cortland LGBTQ Center, helps parents understand “the rainbow”!
#3. Sign Our Cortland County Pledge to Stop Underage Drinking Today!
The Cortland County parent pledge is simple; you are pledging to not allow people under 21 years old to consume alcohol on your property or under your supervision, to be present at any gatherings involving people under 21 to make sure alcohol is not available to people under legal drinking age, and to spread the message to friends and family that parents can prevent underage drinking by limiting access to alcohol in their homes. Parents are the most influential people in their children’s lives. By signing this pledge, you are reinforcing what most parents in the community are already doing—creating an environment where alcohol is not easily accessible for people under 21.
Hear from the Upstream Parent staff about the initiative to reduce youth access to alcohol in Cortland County!
#4. Help! My Child is Vaping!
When teens start vaping it’s about great flavors, water vapor, and fitting in. These factors may have contributed to the number of Cortland County students who reported vaping in the past 30 days nearly doubling from 2017 to 2018. While most teens in our community don’t report vaping, as a parent you might discover that your child has been. So what are your next steps?
Jennifer Hamilton, Health Educator at the Cortland County Health Department, shares what parents can do if they find out their child is vaping.
#5. FAQs for Parents: Narcan (a Lifesaving Medication)
Even with reported opioid use low amongst 7th-12th graders in our community, with 0.3% of students reporting heroin use and 3.9% reporting prescription pain reliever misuse in their lifetime, parents may still find news and stories about overdose upsetting. You might even be questioning if your own child, or if family members who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain, could be at risk of overdosing or if you need to be trained in how to respond to an overdose.
Nikole Hurlbert and Courtney McCallen, Health Educators at the Cortland County Health Department, helped answer some questions parents might have about Narcan, and how to talk about this important topic with teens.
