NAACP plans youth events

Published 8:13 pm Monday, June 14, 2010

Two events are planned for next week to help improve communication between parents and children.

The Nansemond-Suffolk NAACP Youth Council will sponsor a Mother/Daughter and Father/Son breakfast June 19 from 9 to 11 a.m. at Fire Mountain Restaurant, 1202 N. Main St. The cost is $10 for adults and youth over age 13; $6 for youth ages 3-12.

Later that afternoon, the council also will sponsor a free teen health and sexuality workshop, “Let’s Talk about Sex,” from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tabernacle Christian Church, 2500 E. Washington St.

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Both events are designed to help children and parents talk about difficult issues, said Princella Johnson, the public relations chair for the branch.

“The purpose of it is to open up communications in areas that sometimes families don’t discuss,” Johnson said. “Sometimes, children don’t feel that they can talk to their parents. That’s something we want to work to change.”

The breakfast will help parents reconnect with their children, Johnson said, while the sex seminar will open up lines of conversation about a sometimes difficult, but important, subject.

“The kids may need answers, and they don’t know where to get them from,” Johnson said. “It is a very good positive family thing. I feel that the kids will benefit from the programs, realizing family and community are closely knit, and we have to rely on one another.”

Speakers for the two events include business and religious leaders such as Louis Kelly, owner of the local Tropical Smoothie Café; Bishop Carlton Upton Sr. of Tabernacle Christian Church; and Rhonda Jones, a health educator with the Western Tidewater Health District.

“I think the bottom line is the children will learn that we’re all connected,” Johnson said. “Whatever goals you have, you have a community of loving parents and adults that are there with you.”

For more information or reservations for either event, contact Tyron Riddick at 621-3593 or via email at tdr_4096@yahoo.com, or call Johnson at 925-4545, ext. 1003.