Marsha Augustin LMHC Broward County Public schools Parent

+ Marsha Augustin, LMHC Broward County Public schools Parent Forum for Teens Experiences with children and adolescents include working in Department of Juvenile Justice commitment setting as a Mental Health Counselor, Clinical supervisor at a charter school in Broward and currently a Family therapist with BCPS.

+ Communication Boundary Development in children is important n Instill responsibility vs repairing damage (Henry Cloud Boundaries is a great book) n Adolescent years- influence you child instead of trying to control Open Communication n Continue to have an open dialogue with your child/teen n Your life experience may SEEM similar but DO NOT COMPARE

+ How to talk to your child about Mental Health According to Mental. Health. gov, here are some leading questions you can ask your children. Make sure you are ACTIVELY listening to your child’s response n Can you tell me more about what is happening? How you are feeling? n Have you had feelings like this in the past? n I’m here to listen. How can I help you feel better? n Do you feel like you want to talk to someone else about your problem?

+ Communication Continued…. . n Communicate in a straightforward manner n Speak at a level that is appropriate to your child/teen’s age and development level n Discuss the topic when your child feels safe and comfortable n Watch for reactions during the discussion and slow down or back up if your child/teen becomes confused or looks upset n Listen openly and let your child/teen tell you about his or her feelings and worries

+ Warning signs It is important to be aware of warning signs your child may be displaying. As a parent, you play a critical role in knowing when your child may need help: n Feeling very sad or withdrawn for more than two weeks n Seriously trying to harm oneself, or making plans to do so n Sudden overwhelming fear for no reason, sometimes with a racing heart or fast breathing n Involvement in many fights or desire to badly hurt others n Severe out-of-control behavior that can hurt oneself or others n Not eating, throwing up, or using laxatives to make oneself lose weight n Intense worries or fears that get in the way of daily activities n Extreme difficulty concentrating or staying still that puts the student in physical danger or causes problems in the classroom n Repeated use of drugs or alcohol n Severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships n Drastic changes in the student's behavior or personality

+ Mental Health Awareness According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for children, adolescents and adults age 15 to 24 years old.

+ Social Media/TV/Sex/ Porn/ Etc n Anime Porn- Hentai is one form but there are many other names

+ Florida Department of Law Enforcement n "Child pornography" means any image depicting a minor engaged in sexual conduct. Florida Statute 847. 001(3) "Minor" means any person under the age of 18 years. Florida Statute 847. 001(8) n Possessing, distributing, transmitting, and manufacturing child pornography are all illegal in the State of Florida and are third degree felonies covered under Florida Statutes 847. 0135, 847. 0138 and 827. 071. n Additionally, if you receive child pornography by email or in any other manner, do not download, print, or copy it to a disk and do not forward the email to anyone. Leave the email in your inbox and contact your local authorities. If you find a website that contains images of child pornography, you should not download any of these images for any reason. You should write down the Web address and leave the site, then contact your local authorities.

+ Human Trafficking n In 2011, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center ranked Florida 3 rd in the number of calls received by the center’s human trafficking hotline. n Human Trafficking, under both federal and Florida law, is defined as the transporting, soliciting, recruiting, harboring, providing or obtaining of another person for transport; for the purposes of forced labor, domestic servitude or sexual exploitation using force, fraud and/or coercion. n Many of these victims are lured with false promises of financial or emotional security; instead, they are forced or coerced into commercial sex (prostitution), domestic servitude or other types of forced labor.

+ Apps to be concerned about…. n • Calculator%- The app looks like a calculator but functions like a secret photo vault; n • Omegle - A chat website that promotes communicating with strangers; n • Yellow - This app allows teens to flirt with each other in a Tinder-like atmosphere; n • Whisper - An app where people remain anonymous and share secrets; n • Ask. fm - Ask an anonymous question and get an answer. The police chief said the app has been linked to the most severe forms of cyber bullying; n • Hot or Not - Strangers rate your profile. The app's goal is to lead a hookup; n • Burn Book - Post anonymous rumors about people through audio messages, texts and photos; n • Wishbone - An app that compares people to each other and allows users to rate people on a scale; n • Kik - A popular messaging app; n The police chief also warned parents to be aware of teens creating fake Instagram accounts to hide pictures and messages from parents.