Staying involved key for parents, children

  • Published
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan (AFNEWS) --  Eight educators, health-care officials and family advocacy workers made presentations to parents during a "Let's Talk" conference here Jan. 18.

The two-hour briefing served as a means to inform Yokota parents about a variety of resources readily available to them on base. Some of the forum's highlighted topics included new immunization requirements for infants and school-aged children, growth and learning development and issues with school programs.

The program's coordinator, Senior Master Sgt. Eric Strohecker, said it is a helpful tool for parents looking into the many avenues available to find help.

"We spend at least a third of our lives, for those of us who are parents, raising our kids, and generally the only thing we have to go on is what we learned growing up from our parents," he said. "So it's extremely valuable to spend a little time listening to professionals and hearing about their programs to help us in this tremendous responsibility of raising our children."

Briefers made themselves available to parents who had questions and concerns, and said they encourage parents to stay involved with their children through school programs and extracurricular activities, but mostly by simply clearing the lines of communication and talking with their youngsters.

Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link)

Click here to view the comments/letters page