Tri-Town Youth Services has teamed up with Connecticut State Trooper Kate Cummins to offer a free informational presentation to parents on social media trends and problematic adolescent online behaviors. The presentation will take place on Thursday, Oct. 10, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at John Winthrop Middle School.

“We live in a very challenging time to be a parent and there are a lot of different dangers out there for our children,” said Tri-Town Youth Services Executive Director Allison Abramson. “This program is aimed at helping parents be more aware of the apps and trends that are most unsafe for kids. The program will also cover how to spot these dangers and give tips on what to do to help keep our families safe.”

This is the first time a presentation such as this is being offered through Tri-Town Youth Services and the State Police. It is part of the program 4 Wellness, which was just named Program of the Year at the Connecticut Youth Services Association’s 47th annual conference. 4 Wellness was kicked off in all three tri-town elementary schools last year for 6th graders.

“We have been working on the curriculum of the program along with staff from the three elementary schools, as well as administrators and the state police to get this up and running in the schools,” said Abramson. “It is similar to the DARE program, but we had gotten a lot of feedback that the DARE program was outdated, so we wanted to create something that was more relevant and touched upon issues that are affecting our kids today, so this is what we came up with.”

She added, “We talk about mental health issues, vaping, drug and alcohol abuse, [and] digital citizenship and we mix in a leadership training. So far it has been very well received by everyone.”

Abramson explained that Tri-Town felt that holding this informative parents educational presentation was a great way to kick off the school year and help parents navigate what’s going on and illuminate what threats are out there behind the screens of their childrens’ phones, computers, and video games.

“It’s a challenge for our kids, right now in this digital age, to try and navigate it all, and we want to give parents the tools they need to help their kids with those challenges, while at the same time keeping them safe from harm,” Abramson said. “This presentation will give parents ways and strategies to establish strong digital boundaries and how to open up the lines of communication with their children.”

The presentation will talk about Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube, which have proven to be the favorite apps for kids and young adults. It will also cover covert apps to look out for such as “hidden calculator,” which looks and acts like an actual calculator, however, if you type in a passcode, it opens up a vault where you can store secret pictures and videos.

“There are so many technological dangers that exist right here in our community, for our children, that we want to hold presentations like this to help combat those dangers by educating and helping parents,” said Abramson, who hopes to see a large turnout for the program and has plans to hold more presentations like this for parents in the future.