Del Norte High hosting seminar for area parents of teenagers

Parents of teenagers can gain insight into what their children are experiencing and worrying about during a free forum next week.

“What I Wish My Parents Knew: Empowering Parents to Support 21st Century Teens” is coming to Del Norte High School. The free community event will be 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6 throughout the campus, 16601 Nighthawk Lane in 4S Ranch.

The forum started when school and religious community officials joined forces in response to several teenage deaths in 2012 that occurred within Poway Unified School District due to drugs and alcohol. The initial leadership group wanted to explore “how the faith community and the schools could work together to address the issues facing ... teenagers in the community,” according to the event’s website.

When searching for the root of the problem, faith communities and the high schools conducted a survey among teens to discover what issues they were facing. The responses included academic pressure, depression, self harm, substance abuse and social media.

Since 2012, around 2,000 local parents have attended “What I Wish My Parents Knew” forums hosted by various Poway Unified high schools, according to Traci Barker-Ball, student services coordinator at Poway High and a founding committee member.

Next week’s event will have a similar format to previous forums. It will include a large event plus interactive break-out sessions. The panel, which will include students, will be on the topic “It’s Different Being 15 in 2015.” The break-out sessions — led by subject matter experts — will be on guiding teens through the party years, depression/suicide prevention, guardrails (creating boundaries that actually work), communication, social media, academic pressure and healthy teen relationships. The building healthy relationships session is new to the forum.

Parents will be able to attend two of the break-out sessions plus the panel discussion. They can register for the free event at WhatIWishMyParentsKnew.com.