Support Offered for Parents who want to Talk, not Tik Tok, with their Teens

A new series of events to support adults, parents and teachers which offer advice on how best to understand and communicate with teenagers will be held at venues across County Cork this Spring. The GenZ events will complement the successful TeenTalk series, which is organised by Cork County Council and funded by Healthy Ireland through the Local Community Development Committees.

Speakers at the upcoming events in Charleville, Little Island and Bantry will address the most significant issues affecting young people today. The GenZ series for parents and teachers will follow earlier events attended by transition year students from across Cork.

Amongst those to address attendees will be Alicia O’Sullivan, a 6th-year student at Skibbereen Community School who was recently an Irish delegate at the UN Youth Climate Summit. Described by former US Secretary of State John Kerry as “a tough act to follow”, Alicia will give a voice to a generation that is deeply affected by global events.

Niall O’Callaghan of Teen Talk says; “The impact of the Teen Talk initiative has been hugely positive, with transition year students learning of the importance of speaking out when they face challenges. However, we realise that parents can sometimes struggle for the same reasons as their teenagers to effectively communicate on a range of topics. These evening events will help provide parents and teachers with the tools they need to explore with teenagers any complicated issues that arise. Knowledge is key to effective communication, and our list of speakers will address the most pressing issues facing GenZ. ”

Amongst the other speakers at the GenZ events are;

– Harry McCann, CyberTech Entrepreneur

– Aleesha Weeigant, Youth Mental Health Advocate

– Dean O’Reilly, Dublin City University’s LGBTSociety

– Alan Young, LGBT Youth Scotland

– Kirstyn Donoghue, on challenges faced by Transgender and Non Binary children.

– TJ Hourihan, Cyber/Social Media Expert

These inspirational speakers will speak to parents and teachers on the topics of cyber and social media, mental health and LGBTI+.

The Teen Talk events are held annually to promote health and wellbeing amongst transition year students, with a particular emphasis on mental health.

1,500 Transition Year students from forty schools are expected to attend the earlier events, which will be chaired by the presenter with Virgin Media Television, Elaine Crowley.

The initiative is part of the Healthy Ireland Initiative by Cork County Council’s three Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs). LCDCs comprise of both public and private partners who promote and support economic, local and community development through greater integration in the planning and delivery of local and community development services and interventions.

The events will take place in Charleville on March 26th, Little Island on March 31st and Bantry on April 2nd. Parents and teachers can apply for free tickets for the GenZ events through the following links;

Bantry

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/gen-z-bantry-2020-tickets-91672784767

Charleville

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/gen-z-charleville-2020-tickets-91675133793

Little Island

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/gen-z-little-island-2020-tickets-91511979795