“It's definitely a community concern," said Nancy Solberg, one of the parents who worked with Holmen High School guidance counselors to organize the event. “We wanted a parent education session, just to increase parent awareness."

The parents and school district have turned to Ted Stein of Stein Counseling and Consulting Services for help. A counselor for 11 years, Stein has been leading six-week parenting classes for three years.

Part of Stein's talk will serve as a wakeup call for a lot of parents. He said he will cite some sobering statistics about the percentage of children who engage in risky behavior, including drinking, taking drugs, using tobacco, gambling, engaging in sex and more.

These aren't numbers from some national study that can be brushed aside as having no relevance here, Stein emphasized. The statistics, which he wanted to save as a surprise for parents, come from a study that was done recently and in this area.

Stein did, however, offer a taste of the statistics he will offer. In the survey, done recently in a community within La Crosse County, 54 percent of students in grades 8-12 said they had attended one or more parties in the previous year at which kids their age were consuming alcohol. For seniors, three out of four had been at such parties while almost one in three eighth-graders had been at drinking parties.

In addition to telling parents and interested community membes what kind of trouble the children could be getting into, Stein also plans to offer some ideas on how to keep them from going down the wrong paths.

It's common sense, but as busy as people are these days, Stein said, sometimes parents don't communicate with other parents. Knowing who your children are hanging out with and sharing information with their friends' parents can prevent opportunities for risky behavior.

And Stein said it's important not only to talk to your children's friends' parents but to talk to their young friends, too. Kids identify parents of friends as being among the most influential adult relationships they have, Stein said.

Stein also will talk about the developmental asset model developed by the Search Institute (www.searchinsti-tute.org), which asserts that children do better the more assets they have. Some of those assets are internal, such as good moral values and leadership qualities, while external assets involve elements of a support system provided by family, schools and community.

“It's going to be educating them on best practices and what they can do to really help their kids to decrease the odds that they'll participate in these risky behaviors," Stein said.

While risky behavior might be suprisingly prevalent, it is not inevitable. The point Stein will make is something can be done to help, but it will take some work.

While the children most likely to get involved in risky behaviors are teenagers, Solberg said the presentation will be useful for parents of younger children, too.

Free presentation by Ted Stein of Stein Counseling and Consulting Services, “Letting Go While Maintaining Control: Parenting Toward Solutions."

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