The Country School of Madison welcomed close to 150 parents, educators, and health care professionals to campus recently for a forum with former United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph A. Califano, Jr., and a panel of Yale psychiatry experts. The subject of the evening, part of the Country School’s Teacher Institute-Partnering with Parents Initiative, was how to raise a drug-free child.

The forum featured research, facts and figures, and useful tips about to help guide children through their pre-teen, teen, and college years. Califano, founder of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse and author of the new, completely revised and updated edition of How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid: The Straight Dope for Parents, started off the discussion by speaking about his book and the research he has amassed over the years. All attendees received a complimentary copy of How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid.

Califano’s presentation was followed by a moderated panel discussion and question-and-answer session. Panelists included Joseph L. Woolston, M.D., Albert J. Solnit Professor of Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center; Dr. Claudia Califano, adolescent and child psychiatrist, assistant clinical professor at the Yale Child Study Center, and a Country School parent; and Greer Richardson, M.D., psychiatrist and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale. They were joined by moderator Samuel A. Ball, Ph.D., president and CEO of the National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse and professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine.

The Country School thanks Califano, the panelists, and moderator for so generously sharing their expertise on this critically important topic. The school also thanks M.A.D.E. in Madison, a coalition of community members striving to promote positive youth development, for sponsoring the forum.

Watch for future parent forums offered through the Country School’s Teacher Institute-Partnering with Parents Initiative. The school is also pleased to partner with R.J. Julia Booksellers on a Parenting Speaker Series. Recent speakers have included Ron Lieber, author of The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart about Money; Jennifer Senior, author of All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood; and Pamela Druckerman, author of Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting.

Founded in 1955, the Country School is a coeducational, independent day school serving students in preschool through grade 8 on its 23-acre campus on Opening Hill Road in Madison. For more information, visit www.thecountryschool.org.