Parents of High School Students

What's your area of expertise? What's an area you are passionate about? It's usually best to talk on something you are knowledgeable in or have a strong passion for. Another idea is to ask the teacher of the class where you will be speaking. It's helpful when your presentation ties in with something that the class is studying currently. I've also talked to students about health care professions in general, and about the education required to become a nurse, and about the distinctions between CNA, LPN and RN- the education required for each, the division of job responsibilities. Who knows, you might inspire a student to join our ranks!

What's the demographic of the school? I'd tailor the presentation to the needs of the population. If it's an urban school, largely minority students, or in a low-income/high-crime area, the needs will be much different than a upper-middle-class "Blue Ribbon" school district.

At my daughter's high school, they were taught that condoms are 90% INEFFECTIVE in preventing STD's and pregnancy.

Abstinence, of course, 100% effective.

Please give these kids accurate information. The student's reaction at my daughter's school to this info was well, why bother using them then, they don't feel as good and they don't work anyway!!

I work as a school nurse - so i know that the talks about std's and unplanned preganancies sometimes go in one ear and out the other. So it may be a good idea to reinforce these lessons or have an opportunity for a less structured open discussion. If possible, you can even have kids anonymously submit questions to you in advance for discussion points.

If you don't want to go there, here are some some ideas of some less frequently discussed topics:

eating disorders - particularly the havoc they can wreak on the body and the long term effects - like cardiac issues.

safety in the sun - go to molliesfund.com for some great (and i think free ) resources such as dvd's and posters

protecting hearing - reinforcing that the kids should not listen to ipods at their highest volume and should take steps to protect their ears during loud situations.

i'll post more as i think of them

I would do a program on drug use, it's effect on future employability and the body and most importantly, I would delineate all the "tricks" teenagers learn from their friends that they believe will fool a drug test. They don't work. I think they need to learn this. It saddens me to hear a student believe that it is OK to do drugs because they will simply use one of these methods fully expecting to pass a drug test......then get the rude awakening later that they failed the drug test!

My daughter graduates high school in June . I am with you, I'm thinking, forget the STD and teen pregnancy thing..they've heard it a hundred times and they are so tired of it (not that it shouldn't be pounded into their heads, because it SHOULD be) but how about gearing it toward their journey into College.

How about doing a presentation on the communicable diseases that tend to be seen in Colleges because of the close living quarters..ie:menigitis, mono etc. Or better yet, something about the ways to "stay safe" IF they chose to drink..'the date rape drug' and how to avoid being a victim of that. Or maybe something about the "freshman 15" and how to eat healthy while in school.

I know kids are probably sick of hearing about it but- what about texting while driving? I know there has been a lot about this in the media lately. However, since teenagers feel they are invincible, I just don't think they get it.

Maybe you could have them pull out their cell phones and try to text while you recite something they need to remember. Then ask how many can tell you what you just said. That might help them realize that while they are texting they aren't actually paying attention to their surroundings. Also, Oprah has a pledge they can sign making the car a "no phone zone". I know it sounds kind of "cheesy" but this is a huge problem with teens.

There have been numerous serious accidents in my area where teens have been using cell phones and gotten seriously injured or killed.

How about the dangers of alcohol poisoning? There have been too many deaths with students that think that their bodies can handle that binge with their friends.

Nutrition, obesity and diabetes. There are so many overweight kids these days.

I like the hearing loss idea--I have some hearing loss from listening to my mp3/CD player turned ALLLLL the way up on the bus every day in high school it couldn't be helped because our bus was really loud and otherwise I'd have to listen to stupid conversations for hours every day...but it does bother me now.

I'd stay away from talking about obesity, to be honest. If there are any overweight kids in the audience it may make them feel hugely uncomfortable, and they've heard it all already constantly from society and their doctors.

If they're juniors/seniors getting ready to go to college, talk about health issues that may come up--like alcohol poisoning, the hook-up culture of colleges that contributes to STDs, even the freshman 15 (in that context you're addressing everyone, not just making a few kids feel singled out.)

If you decide to talk about sexuality (STD's, contraception, etc.) make sure you are well aware of the school district's policies and state laws regarding these topics. In our state, parents have to be notified of such topics in advance, and legally they can "opt" their child out of such a discussion. Our school districts can be fined if parents are not made aware of these topics in advance...Good Luck! I agree with previous posters on cell phone/texting/"sexting" and alcohol poisoning as good topics for high school kids! How about information on the sexual harassment laws/sex offender penalty??

Mental health issues: depression, anxiety, eating disorders and more "serious" diagnoses such as bipolar disorder and psychosis. According to www.teendepression.org 10-15% of teenagers experience symptoms of depression at anyone time. & it is even more likely that if these kids don't experience it themselves, someone they know will. It could be a good opportunity to educate and evoke empathy regarding mental illness in a largely uneducated population (re: teens have little accurate information on the subject.)