(Sibley)– The ISU Extension and Outreach County Councils of Lyon, Sioux, O’Brien and Osceola counties are encouraging those interested to sign up for a Strenthening Families Program For Parents and Youth ages 10-14.
The event will be held March 16th-18th in Inwood and will be presented by newly trained facilitators from the four counties.
Cindy Ganon of ISU Extension and Outreach says the prevention program is targeted for middle school youth in northwest Iowa. She says it will consists of parent, youth and family sessions utilizing narrated videos, hands-on activities and messages portraying typical youth and parent situations.
According to joint needs assessments in Lyon, Sioux, O’Brien and Osceola counties, parenting programs have continually been identified in northwest Iowa and the need for adult facilitators was part of the assessment. The 2010 Iowa Youth Survey indicated that 25% of 11th graders in Sioux county thought they would be more popular or a lot more popular if they smoked cigarettes, drank alcoholic beverages, smoked marijuana or used any illegal drug. 29% of O’Brien county 11th graders thought the same thing about popularity.
