by Jazzmine Otey
“The Youth Summit is very important because as young people you are a group that we as elected leaders are very responsible for,” Vice Mayor Anita Price stated, addressing the sizeable assemblage of the community’s youth during the 3rd Annual Youth Summit held Saturday, Aug. 6 at William Fleming High School.
Succeeding a friendly welcome from Price, vice-chair, Youth Services Citizen Board; Mayor Sherman Lea and emcee C.J. Staples, young attendees were then prompted to choose two, hour-long seminars at which to attend throughout the day.
Among the choices were such classes as Health and Nutrition, Internet Safety, Conflict Resolution, I Worry About My Friends, Peer Refusal Skills and The Power of No.
The main aim of the Health and Nutrition group was to encourage healthy eating among adolescents. Tonya Pickett of Virginia Cooperative Extension Services conducted the seminar. It opened with an intro regarding healthy foods then proceeded to a game, where middle and high-schoolers collaborated to figure out whether certain foods displayed were a “go food” (healthy), a “slow food” (unhealthy), or a “whoa food” (extremely unhealthy). Each answer she made sure to give a thorough explanation.
‘Internet Safety’ conducted by officer J.S. Moore was an informative presentation bases on his experience as a detective. He branched through many different topics, including the risk of sexting, http vs https (online prefixes), online predators and more.
Moore emphasized the dangers of sending inappropriate pictures as well as giving personal information to strangers and online interaction with strangers. He supported his facts using thorough explanations, examples and facts and enabled teens to ask questions regarding internet safety.
Other groups explored different ways to deal with situations involving stress and conflicts. Nonetheless, Restorative Justice for Youth representative Donna Chewning, ‘Conflicts’ group facilitator, focused considerably on how to resolve controversy without violence, resolution skills development and relationship rebuilding.
With attendees gathered in a circle, she lead the discussion about different ways to remove violence and find more positive solutions within different thought provoking scenarios she provided.
‘I Worry About My Friends’ group instructor Janice Carpenter conducted icebreaker games to warm up the group. This led to a discussion about different ways young people can help themselves and their friends manage stress coming from school, home, etc.
Both ‘Peer Refusal Skills’ (for highschoolers) and ‘The Power of No’ (for middleschoolers) focused on the extreme importance of establishing personal boundaries regarding drugs, alcohol, and other precarious behaviors. Group instructors Rayshon Cobbs and Sarah Lawrence established the meaning of consent and ways to assert oneself when dealing with peer pressure. “Don’t let that pressure drive you to do something you’ll regret for the rest of your life,” Cobbs includedin his many points.
Concluding student discussion groups, kids were requested to complete a 2016 Youth Summit Survey with questions that would give Roanoke City Council and the Youth Services Board an idea of how they can improve the community regarding youth. With each survey completion each child received a gift.
The day’s activities included a free lunch along with the oportunity to enjoy an inflatable obstacle course as well as music provided by DJ Freddy Mac. Later kids were encouraged to participate in ‘The Running Man Challenge’ competition, where the winner received a Kindle Fire.
“I want people to know we have awesome young people and it truly takes a village to raise healthy, successful, and productive citizens,” concluded Anita Price expressing her overall satisfaction with the turnout of the 3rd Annual Youth Summit.
