January 8, 2022 • 35 mins
Do you have candid conversations with youth about their well-being? Do you know any youth demonstrating curiosity and wanting for information about health and wellness? This episode is the first of a 3-part series covering the topic of adolescent health and wellness. Two valued professionals championing adolescent health initiatives in the community talk openly about the support and services needed to reduce risk-taking behaviors and increase healthy outcomes. I invite you to listen and consider the perspectives put forward. Be inspired to start your own conversation. Enjoy the show!
Helpful Resources
Adolescent and School Health: Resources for Adolescent Health | Adolescent and School Health | CDC
Influence of New Media on Adolescent Sexual Health: Evidence and Opportunities: Influence of New Media on Adolescent Sexual Health: Evidence and Opportunities | ASPE (hhs.gov)
Prosper Waco: https://www.prosperwaco.org/
The Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy: Research + Data – The Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (txcampaign.org)
Credits
Host: Dr. Sherece Shavel
Theme Narration: Ronald Coaxum
Guest: Dr. Deneece Ferrales, Beth Olson
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Episode edited using Hindenburg Journalist Pro: https://hindenburg.com/
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Connect with me through email. Send messages to: ssinspiredcast@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome
Speaker 2 (00:13):
To Sundays with Shavel a social work inspired
podcast with creator and host Dr.
Sherece Shavel.
This is a bimonthly show whereeach episode aims to inspire
with topics relevant to socialwork practice, growing forward,
living on purpose and so muchmore.
Thank you for tuning in, enjoythe show.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Greetings greetings Sunday listeners.
This is your host, Dr.
Sherece Shavel, and I'm so gladthat you are able to tune in.
So I welcome you to today'sepisode pursuing health and
wellness for adolescence.
It seems ever that that youthhealth and wellness needs more
attention.
(01:05):
It is a topic I think everyoneneeds to talk about literally
openly.
They need to talk about it intheir homes, with their
families, with their friends,with trusted persons that have
their best interests and heart,as well as in mind.
And I'm excited to have thisopportunity to bring a piece of
this topic forward by way ofthis podcast platform.
(01:27):
And I've invited twoknowledgeable professionals to
engage in conversation with me.
So I expect it will beenlightening for you.
Now, this episode is only partof the conversation that we're
going to have together.
It is the first of a, a threepart series covering this topic
of youth health and wellness.
(01:48):
Today's episode features apreviously recorded conversation
with Dr.
Deneece Ferrales and Beth Olson.
Both are spearheading healthinitiatives at a nonprofit
backbone organization known asProsper Waco, located in Waco,
Texas.
For this part of the series, ourdiscussion touched on the reason
(02:10):
a focus on youth health andwellness is needed as well as
some of the challengespractitioners have in doing this
work.
So stay tuned to hear Dr.
Ferrales, Beth, and me share ourthoughts on this.
So, and I will meet you at theconclusion of the conversation.
Enjoy! Welcome.
(02:36):
Welcome, welcome Beth andDenise, how are you ladies?
Doing great.
Fine.
Awesome.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
I am so excited about what weare going to be getting into
today with our conversation.
We'll be talking about youthwellness, and I think this is
such a, this is a topic that isso important to discuss.
(03:00):
It's a topic that I think wedon't talk about enough, even
though we do talk about someaspects of it.
I think we need to just havemore conversations and I'm so
glad that the, the two of youare here to join me and having
this conversation.
But before we get started, thetwo of you work together and I
want to know more about whereyou, you both work
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Well.
We work for Prosper Waco, whichis a collective impact backbone
organization.
And so for those of you who arenot familiar with the collective
with what a collective impactmovement is, collective impact
movement brings the unitytogether by starting with a
common agenda, um, establishingshared measurements so that the
(03:46):
community is working toward thesame goal.
And so that they are measuringwhether or not they're reaching
that goal in the same way, um,fosters mutually reinforcing
activities, and then encouragescan continuous communication
amongst all communityorganizations and community
members.
We are a backbone organization.
(04:06):
So the four things I justmentioned, it is our job to
support other organizations inthe community by trying to
establish those four things.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
I think there is a need forbackbones in the community.
So Beth, you want to tell us alittle bit about your role in
prosper Waco?
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Sure.
I'd love to.
I am the director of adolescenthealth initiatives, which
actually right now meansadolescent sexual health
initiatives.
So I am working with adults inthe community, um, staff members
at youth, serving organizations,community leaders, parents,
faith leaders, to help themunderstand why and how they
(04:47):
should talk with teens, um, andeven young children about sex
and sexual health and boundariesand consent.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Awesome.
Denise, tell us a little bitabout your role.
So
Speaker 4 (04:59):
I am the director of health initiatives.
Um, we have three health contentspecialists at prosper Waco.
Um, there is, uh, Beth who'vealready introduced yourself as
the director of adolescenthealth initiatives.
We also have Lana Kirby, who'sthe director of behavioral
health initiatives, and then I'mthe director of health
initiatives.
So kind of whatever doesn't fallunder Lana or Beth that has to
(05:23):
do with health in the communityfalls under me.
And so the biggest area that,that I, um, work in is access to
healthcare and making sure thatpeople are able to, um, in our
community are able to equitablyaccess healthcare as needed.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Awesome.
So it sounds like overallwhether it's youth or not, you
ladies are focused on health inthe community health and
wellness in the community.
I think that's awesome.
More specifically today, we'regonna be talking about youth
health and wellness.
And so Beth, can you talk aboutwhat led you to become a
(06:00):
practitioner in this area?
Speaker 5 (06:02):
Sure, I will.
So I kind of, I kind of cameupon this topic naturally, uh,
growing up at the dinner table,we always talked about politics
and policy and the betterment ofthe community.
And I always thought that I were, would go into something
related to public education.
Um, in college, I got involvedwith some organizations that
(06:25):
worked on reproductive healthand my first job out of college,
I did a lot of work onchildren's health, public
policy, and then my next jobworking for a state
representative in Austin, I wasable to marry the two and worked
on sex education, women's healthand children's health.
(06:46):
And I, I don't know why, buthealth and particularly health
for populations that tend to bean afterthought became a really
important issue for me andchildren and teens and women
unfortunately fall into thosecategories.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Well, thank you so much for sharing that.
So let's get let's, let's talk alittle bit about this issue or
the concern for youth health andwellness.
What tell, tell me, why is itnecessary to focus on youth
health and wellness?
Speaker 5 (07:21):
Well, from the perspective of someone who works
on adolescent sexual health, I'dsay it's because, um, teens,
whether they become sexuallyactive as teens or as adults are
walking into sexually chargedcircumstances, unprepared, uh,
frankly, it's, you know, it'snot fair to teens and it is
(07:45):
adults prepare teens andchildren for every aspect of
life.
As adults we teach,'em how todrive cars.
We teach them how to managemoney.
We teach them how to do laundry,but when it comes to talking
about sex and sexual health orsilent, and that is really
(08:07):
hurting our young people,
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I can relate to that personally, honestly, because I
grew up in a family where thiskind of topic was not really
talked about.
You see some things, you mayhear some things, but there is
no sit down.
Let me tell you exactly what yousaw.
Let me tell you what you heard.
Let me explain this to you sothat you can understand, and
(08:31):
then obviously make choicesabout what you need to do
whenever you are confronted by ascenario of sort that has any of
this kind of involved in it,didn't have those kinds of
conversations with family,particularly.
And really the only thing that Iwas told is don't do right.
(08:54):
You know?
Yep.
Don't have sex and that's it.
Yeah.
But there was no otherconversation around this.
Um, you kind of, you had yourhealth class, you know, you
learned about some things, youknow, and during that time, um,
you know, they were, you know,quite conservative about some of
(09:18):
what you were learning in yourhealth class about, um, you
know, reproduction and all thosekinds of things, you know, your
body.
Right,
Speaker 5 (09:29):
Right, right.
Yeah.
And,
Speaker 3 (09:30):
But the, but the real conversation, the reality of
life, um, when it comes to thistopic was not a conversation and
it was not something that youcould, you could ask for or, or
initiate.
Right, right.
Cause you were rejected.
And that's my experience.
Right.
My family that's my experience.
And as the, as a, as a female, Iwas not to ask question.
(09:57):
Right.
These kinds of things.
Yes.
So, um, those kinds ofconversations did not happen in
my family.
So I can, I can relate to whatyou are saying, not to say it
was, it was good or bad, but Ican relate to not having the
conversation I can relate to nothaving the conversation.
And knowing that hindsight, theconversation would've been
(10:21):
beneficial.
If I had a family that was opento having the conversation, you
know?
Right.
Quite, quite candidly with me.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
Right.
Right.
And if you think about it, Imean, part of me, when I bring
up to subject is incrediblyfrustrated that adults don't
talk about it more, that parentsare so afraid of the issue that
you can't say vagina as easilyas you say elbow.
But if I stop and think about ita little more and take a step
(10:54):
back, I realize it's becauseadults don't have any contact
for how these conversationsshould go.
Because like you said, yourparents didn't talk to you.
I bet their parents didn't talkto them.
And this has never, I mean, thisis literally a cycle that has
not been broken.
So when you don't know how totalk about it, then why would
(11:17):
you talk about it?
Because it, it is awkward.
It is talking about, I mean,it's talking about sex.
No, no adult.
I mean, I do this for a livingand I still have to take a deep
breath before I answer aquestion that my eight year old
daughter has.
Um, and it's just, it's, it's,it's hard to talk about, but
(11:37):
once we can acknowledge that,then there are ways to break it
down and actually make it alittle less awkward and a little
bit easier.
So that these teens, when theyhave questions or they're in
uncomfortable situations, theydon't feel this level of shame
in asking trusted adults aboutbody parts or, um, for example,
(12:05):
mom, this is, this is a, shouldbe a question that should be
asked anywhere.
Mom, I can't wear tampon.
Why not?
There should not be shame inasking that question to a mom, a
teacher, you know, anybody.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Um, but I have a story about it.
I have a story about that, butI'm not gonna say that was gonna
say,
Speaker 5 (12:27):
Wow, you're talking about this on a podcast.
well,
Speaker 3 (12:30):
You know, I, I don't have a problem sharing my at
life experiences because Ithink, you know, what, what I
went through in my life, I havemy own perspective.
It is gonna help someone, youknow, right.
No matter how rough, no matterhow hard it was, whatever my
life experiences were, myhistory, um, it, it will be
beneficial to someone.
(12:50):
So I I've learned, and it'staken me some time obviously to,
to get to this point to where I,I want to be open and
transparent about my own, youknow, experiences in life.
But what I really wanted to say,not to tell that story, maybe
I'll tell that story at anothertime, but the, what I was
going to say, as you weretalking, I was reflecting on the
(13:13):
why, why is it a challenge foradults to have this
conversation?
And I know it is an awkwardthing.
It's awkward, it'suncomfortable.
And you even may have some thatwhoever it is that's asking the
(13:37):
question is not ready for theanswer.
Right, right.
But then I thought aboutsomething else, just again,
reflecting back on my own lifeexperiences in my own family
and, and, and such, I haveanother answer as well.
You know, we have a lot of whohave sexual abuse in their
(13:58):
history.
Mm-hmm and becauseof sexual abuse, first of all,
having this conversation istraumatizing.
Right?
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Having the conversation is not only
traumatizing, but there is alsoa say, instead, if I have this
conversation with you, I put youat risk to be in subject to
abuse.
Right.
And we can have moreconversation about this, but as
I'm reflecting on it, I, I wouldlike to suggest that that has a
(14:36):
lot of influence in thereasoning as to holding back
from having conversation.
Mm-hmm it certainlywas a factor with me and my
family.
Yeah.
As to why these conversationsdid not come up.
And as I've, as I've grown olderand become more inquisitive to,
(14:58):
you know, the elders of myfamily now that my mother is no
longer alive.
Mm-hmm,, I've beenable to find out some
information that I did not knowwhen I was a child, because they
were like family secrets.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
Yes.
Yes.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Okay.
And so now these family secretshave come out and I have a
better understanding as to whycertain things occurred while I
was growing up.
Mm-hmm but thisfactor of sexual abuse is one of
the reasons why for my family,particularly I didn't get the
Speaker 5 (15:32):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, absolutely.
And there are, there are avariety of reasons that it
doesn't happen, which is why onething I talk about pretty often
is you can't tune out if you'renot a parent, you know, it's
not, yes, parents, we, we wantto help parents be able to have
(15:55):
these conversations with theirkids, but I'll often refer to
trusted adults because there maybe circumstances in which
parents absolutely cannot havethese conversations for reasons
that I will never understand.
And I'm not gonna try becausethat's disrespectful.
Um, but that's why, you know, apastor or even beyond the
(16:17):
education system, the teacher atthe afterschool program, the
nanny, uh, grandparents, aunts,and uncles, your best friends'
parents.
I mean, this is why as a whole,the community D needs to learn
how to be more open talkingabout this.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Well, can you share some topics of concern when it
comes to this topic of, ofhealth and wellness with youth?
What are, what are some of thetopics of concern that you would
say need to be discussed withyouth?
Speaker 5 (16:53):
Um, well, one topic of concern is that an
organization did a survey forthe Texas campaign to prevent
teen pregnancy.
They interviewed several hundredolder teens, young adults about
their experience with sexeducation and conversations
(17:13):
about sex growing up.
And, um, they discovered that82% of the young adults that
they interviewed said thatGoogle is their number one
resource for information aboutsexual health.
Wow.
So, yeah, so it might not be anissue of concern in additional
(17:35):
sense, like say using a condomevery time you have sex, but
just starting, just startingwith the fact that we're using
TikTok and Google and Instagramas primary sources of sex
education, where we know thatthere is so much inaccurate
information is an issue thatneeds to be addressed almost
(17:59):
before.
I mean, simultaneously, butalmost before we can address the
other issues.
Um, and in that same survey,they talked with parents and I
wanna say it was 96% of parentsthought that they should be
their teen's primary source ofinformation about sexual health.
But looking at those twonumbers, obviously there is a
(18:20):
disconnect between the two.
So just having the basicconversation is one place to
start.
Um, and then you gointo the more specific
conversations when you're nottalking about sex or your
private parts or boundaries orconsent.
(18:44):
And if you bring it up withpeople, you trust you being
teens, and you're told no knowwe, those are private.
We don't need to talk aboutthat.
Then there is a level of shamethat enters the picture when
thinking about sex or yourprivate parts, um, which can
translate into not havingconversations with adults, Beth,
Speaker 4 (19:06):
I think it's interesting that you bring up
the trusted adults and theimportance of the conversation
or the trusted adult being ableto have the conversation and not
just the parents.
Um, I was a four H leader, Ithink, off and on for about
seven years and my, the lastfour or five years that I was
four H leader, my group was allpreteen and teen.
(19:29):
I, I kind of started with agroup when they were in the
seventh or eighth grade andfollowed'em all the way through
until the last of the groupgraduated.
And, um, I, I know that a coupleof them did mention sex to me
before, but more than that, itwas the, it was having to talk
(19:50):
to them about relationship chipissues.
Um, there were a lot ofrelationship issues happening
outside of the group, but withinthe group, you know, both boys
and girls joined four H andwe're spending a lot of time
together and we're working onprojects together and we're
taking trips together, romancesare gonna form, you know, and so
had a few romances that formedin the group had one issue where
(20:14):
one, um, male member, um, endedup, um, feeding up another male
member over a girl.
And it just so turned out thatthe aggressor was president of
the group at the time, and thegirl was vice president of the
group.
And so I had to not only sortthrough that situation and talk
with them and talk with themabout appropriate relationships
(20:38):
and, and, and how to, how wehandle those things, but then
had to make some decisions aboutwhether or not I could allow
this kid to continue to bepresident when he's beat up
another now beating up anothermember, um, over a relationship
issue.
So whether in a, whether in atrusted adult wants to be
approached or not, when you'rein those sort of youth serving
(21:01):
positions, these kinds of thingscome up, these topics come up
and, you know, it's not justwhen we talk about sexual health
of adolescence, we're not justtalking about our private parts.
We're also talking aboutrelationships, right.
And being able to navigate thoserelationship discussions and
realize that when you have thatrelationship discussion, you
(21:23):
very well may hear one of thekids say, well, I'm already
having with her.
Mm-hmm, that's whyI felt like I sh you had the
right to beat up that other kidor whatever, whatever the case
may be.
So I'm glad that you said that.
Um, and, and also in thinkingabout it, I know I had a mental
health provider come into thefour H group one time.
(21:43):
And the mental health providersaid make a list of adults that
you trust.
And I shocked when I was thenumber one adult on about six of
the kids lists, uh, you know, infront of their parents.
So I think these youth, I thinkyouth leaders don't always
realize what kind of a role youplay with the kids and how
important it is that you're ableto have these conversations.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
You're right.
That these questions can comeout of nowhere.
Um, I helped put together aconference for high school girls
, um, 10th, well, actually wedid two days, seventh and eighth
grade and 10th through 12thgrade.
And because of COVID, it wasonline.
So questions, they were a panelof doctors was, um, it was
(22:33):
anonymous.
And based on past experiences,we made this panel discussion
pretty much all Q and a, becausewe knew once we started talking
about sexual health andboundaries and relationship that
the question were gonna startflying and they did, and they
were great questions, but thetopics that came up were there
(22:57):
was a wide variety.
And, um, one issue that came upquite often was, oops.
I sent a nude picture to myboyfriend.
Now, what do I do?
Um, another one was, what do Ido if I think my friend is
(23:19):
pregnant, what do I do?
If I think my friend has beensexually abused, what is an St D
?
And this was a safe place forthem to ask these questions.
So yeah, if you're a safe adult,you better get ready.
Even if it's just to say, Idon't know, I will look into
this with you, but sometimes intalking with adults, these
questions catch people.
(23:40):
So off guard that they go withtheir gut instinct, which is,
whoa, I don't know what to do.
That's scary.
So we're just not gonna talkabout it.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
This brings me to another question that's coming
to mind.
And it's because of, you know,both of you working in this area
where you are doing youth basedservices and are focusing this
focusing in this area of health,I can only imagine that there
(24:13):
exists some challenges in thework that you do.
So can you talk a little bitabout some of the challenges
that you face in doing this workand, you know, maybe what are
some of the things that you'reto address some of these
challenges that you're having in, in working in this area?
Speaker 5 (24:34):
Hmm.
There are lots of challenges.
I'm trying to decide where tostart.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
, I'll start
one of the issues that I think
that, that Beth has faced.
And I, I'll never one of the,when, when I Beth started with,
uh, the organization before Idid.
And so, um, I'll never forgetthat I wasn't, but maybe two
weeks into my job when Bethasked me to join a brainstorming
(25:02):
session, and I kept gettingreally frustrated about this
very issue, where had to look atme and say, Denise, we have to
work with everybody.
We have to work with everybody.
And I think, and, and thatchallenge is exactly that if you
want to bring together folks to,to, to talk about adolescent
health and you wanna make surethat your whole community is
(25:25):
involved, then you have torealize that you have different
voice with differentperspectives.
And you have to be very, verycareful not to, um, not to run
over any of those perspectivesand to value all of those
perspectives and bring all thoseperspectives together in the
work that you do.
And sometimes when there's aperspective, that's very
(25:47):
different than yours, that canbe challenging.
Speaker 5 (25:50):
Yeah.
Navigating the politics of sexis a challenge that I accept and
frankly, find fascinating.
And I love the challenge, but itcan also be like banging your
head against the wall.
It, it has become, and this is,this is a soapbox.
So I will try and keep it asbrief as possible, but it has
(26:12):
become so politically charged totalk about anything related to
reproductive health and sex.
That first you have to manage tobreak through that barrier and
assure people that it's okay.
That it is okay to have theseconversations.
It is okay to talk to me aboutthis.
(26:32):
Once you can navigate throughthat, you realize that people
want to be able to talk to teensabout sex and young people about
sex.
Um, but yes, it has gotten the,the politics of sex makes
everything more difficult.
(26:52):
everything.
And we can talk about that in a,in a later episode.
Um, but another challenge isthis idea that you have the talk
with your teenager and it lastsfor an hour and a half and you
cover everything they need toknow, and then you send them out
to the world and that's not howit works.
(27:15):
Um, the birds and the bees talkis a myth.
And actually it becomes easierwhen you realize that these,
this conversation needs to bebroken up into little bitty
conversations throughout achild's growing up, starting
with when they're tiny, teachingthem the right names for their
(27:35):
body parts and, you know,teaching them boundaries,
teaching them consent.
No, when little Jenny says shewants to use that crayon and
she's using it, you don't takeit away from her.
If somebody takes your pencilaway without asking, then you
can go say I was using thatpencil.
I'm not ready to share it yet.
(27:57):
And teaching them ageappropriate information all the
way through your growing up.
And there is also this, thismyth, this idea that, oh, well,
if we're talking to childrenabout sex, then we're giving
them all of the same informationthat we would give a 17 year
(28:19):
old.
And that's not accurate either.
So breaking through some ofthese barriers that adults have
created for themselves, um,breaking down these barriers to
help adults understand that it'sokay to talk about this issue.
I mean, that, that, that is oneof the biggest barriers.
(28:41):
I mean, and there, there arebarriers related to, um, talking
about birth control there, youknow, this, this idea that birth
control talking about birthcontrol is going to encourage
teens to go become sexuallyactive, which is not true.
Research has shown that that isnot accurate.
(29:03):
Um, but yeah, I think I, thebiggest barrier and the two
biggest barriers are thepolitics of sex and just
breaking down the barriers tohelp adults know that it's okay
to talk about it.
Teens want the information.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
So I know that we're going to continue this
conversation, but before we endour session, I actually would
like to give you an opportunityto talk a little bit about some
resources, what are someresources that adults can access
in order to have thisconversation with the youth in
their life?
Speaker 4 (29:46):
I think Beth did a wonderful job sharing the, the
resources that, uh, that areavailable.
And, um, I think this is just areally, really important topic
and a topic that we need tolearn to not be so afraid of
and, and need to learn and to,to be able to come together and
talk about, and, and recognizethat this is, that the, that the
(30:08):
teens want to know.
And if we are unwilling to shareit with them, that doesn't mean
that their curiosity's going,going to go away.
That just means that they'regoing to search in places.
We'd probably rather they didn'tsearch in.
You know, you know, when you allwere telling your story at the
beginning of this podcast,about, about how sex was a topic
(30:31):
char you shared that, thatwasn't covered in your home at
all.
I thought back to my ownupbringing and it was a topic
that we really didn't talk aboutin my home except to say, no,
no, no, no.
And just like in your home.
And so I've always been anacademic learner.
So my response to that was to goto the public library behind my
parents' back and check out abook on birth control and the,
(30:57):
as much as you could get aboutsexual health at that point in
time, and to, to take it home,hide it from my parents and read
it.
And so I think that, um, and itwas an older book.
Um, I'm gonna date myself nowand say that, you know, it still
included things like the rhythmmethod in it.
So, you know, it was an, it wasdefinitely an older book.
(31:19):
Um, it probably even at thetime, an older book, not just
that I'm old, but at, it wasactually an older book.
So we've now replaced that withthe internet.
And so I think the internet isprobably, um, as reliable.
And I say that sarcastically asthe, as that older book was.
So I think it's just a, we justhave to recognize that that this
(31:42):
is, this is what's going to,this is what's going to occur if
we don't talk to our talk to ourkids.
Awesome.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
And I know that we're gonna be getting together and
talking more about thisparticular topic.
So I'm really excited.
I'm excited to learn more andI'm excited to share more in the
next conversations, enjoy therest of your day.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Bye bye.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
What a conversation, what a conversation so much can
be said about wellbeing andespecially the wellbeing of
youth transitioning intoadulthood and how in this
conversation led me to thinkmore about my own experiences
and their influence on who I amtoday.
(32:32):
A simple takeaway, I would say atakeaway that is meaningful for
me is the need to talk early andto talk often parents,
guardians, supportive adults.
If you are listening, thinkabout creating and seizing the
opportunities.
You have to engage the youth inyour life and conversation about
(32:55):
their health to ensure theirwellbeing.
Don't leave it to social media.
Don't leave it to the internet.
Don't leave it to the movies.
Don't leave it to reality showsor, or even someone else to feed
them the nuggets ofunderstanding and wisdom that
they need.
Talking with youth.
Doesn't have to be weird andknow that there is support out
(33:16):
there for you.
If you need it, if is achallenge for you, or if it's
difficult for you to have thistalk, then think about
connecting with someone, atrusted adult to have talks with
you.
Not for you, talks with you thatwill help to ease the stress or
ease the discomfort that you mayfeel when have in these
(33:39):
conversations.
But more importantly, have theconversation it is needed.
It is needed not just for whereyour youth is today.
It is needed for where they willbe tomorrow.
Have the conversation, havemultiple conversations.
Don't stop having theconversations and make it okay
(34:03):
to initiate conversation asoften as needed.
Well, Sunday listeners, there ismore to come on this topic.
So stay tuned.
If you appreciate it, listeningto this episode, write a review
to share your, share thispodcast episode with others and
(34:24):
subscribe wherever you listen topodcasts to keep up with this
show.
Do you have a question you wantanswered in a future show?
Do you have topic ideas orfeedback to support creation or
future shows?
Would you like to be a guestconnect with me through email,
send messages tossinspiredcast@gmail.com,
(34:50):
ssinspiredcast@gmail.com untilnext time Sunday listeners live
on purpose.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
Thank you for listening to Sundays with Shavel
subscribe, wherever you listento podcasts and be sure to tune
in next time for another socialwork inspired episode.
Goodbye.
Welcome
Speaker 2 (00:13):
To Sundays with Shavel a social work inspired
podcast with creator and host Dr.
Sherece Shavel.
This is a bimonthly show whereeach episode aims to inspire
with topics relevant to socialwork practice, growing forward,
living on purpose and so muchmore.
Thank you for tuning in, enjoythe show.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Greetings greetings Sunday listeners.
This is your host, Dr.
Sherece Shavel, and I'm so gladthat you are able to tune in.
So I welcome you to today'sepisode pursuing health and
wellness for adolescence.
It seems ever that that youthhealth and wellness needs more
attention.
(01:05):
It is a topic I think everyoneneeds to talk about literally
openly.
They need to talk about it intheir homes, with their
families, with their friends,with trusted persons that have
their best interests and heart,as well as in mind.
And I'm excited to have thisopportunity to bring a piece of
this topic forward by way ofthis podcast platform.
(01:27):
And I've invited twoknowledgeable professionals to
engage in conversation with me.
So I expect it will beenlightening for you.
Now, this episode is only partof the conversation that we're
going to have together.
It is the first of a, a threepart series covering this topic
of youth health and wellness.
(01:48):
Today's episode features apreviously recorded conversation
with Dr.
Deneece Ferrales and Beth Olson.
Both are spearheading healthinitiatives at a nonprofit
backbone organization known asProsper Waco, located in Waco,
Texas.
For this part of the series, ourdiscussion touched on the reason
(02:10):
a focus on youth health andwellness is needed as well as
some of the challengespractitioners have in doing this
work.
So stay tuned to hear Dr.
Ferrales, Beth, and me share ourthoughts on this.
So, and I will meet you at theconclusion of the conversation.
Enjoy! Welcome.
(02:36):
Welcome, welcome Beth andDenise, how are you ladies?
Doing great.
Fine.
Awesome.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
I am so excited about what weare going to be getting into
today with our conversation.
We'll be talking about youthwellness, and I think this is
such a, this is a topic that isso important to discuss.
(03:00):
It's a topic that I think wedon't talk about enough, even
though we do talk about someaspects of it.
I think we need to just havemore conversations and I'm so
glad that the, the two of youare here to join me and having
this conversation.
But before we get started, thetwo of you work together and I
want to know more about whereyou, you both work
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Well.
We work for Prosper Waco, whichis a collective impact backbone
organization.
And so for those of you who arenot familiar with the collective
with what a collective impactmovement is, collective impact
movement brings the unitytogether by starting with a
common agenda, um, establishingshared measurements so that the
(03:46):
community is working toward thesame goal.
And so that they are measuringwhether or not they're reaching
that goal in the same way, um,fosters mutually reinforcing
activities, and then encouragescan continuous communication
amongst all communityorganizations and community
members.
We are a backbone organization.
(04:06):
So the four things I justmentioned, it is our job to
support other organizations inthe community by trying to
establish those four things.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
I think there is a need forbackbones in the community.
So Beth, you want to tell us alittle bit about your role in
prosper Waco?
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Sure.
I'd love to.
I am the director of adolescenthealth initiatives, which
actually right now meansadolescent sexual health
initiatives.
So I am working with adults inthe community, um, staff members
at youth, serving organizations,community leaders, parents,
faith leaders, to help themunderstand why and how they
(04:47):
should talk with teens, um, andeven young children about sex
and sexual health and boundariesand consent.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Awesome.
Denise, tell us a little bitabout your role.
So
Speaker 4 (04:59):
I am the director of health initiatives.
Um, we have three health contentspecialists at prosper Waco.
Um, there is, uh, Beth who'vealready introduced yourself as
the director of adolescenthealth initiatives.
We also have Lana Kirby, who'sthe director of behavioral
health initiatives, and then I'mthe director of health
initiatives.
So kind of whatever doesn't fallunder Lana or Beth that has to
(05:23):
do with health in the communityfalls under me.
And so the biggest area that,that I, um, work in is access to
healthcare and making sure thatpeople are able to, um, in our
community are able to equitablyaccess healthcare as needed.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Awesome.
So it sounds like overallwhether it's youth or not, you
ladies are focused on health inthe community health and
wellness in the community.
I think that's awesome.
More specifically today, we'regonna be talking about youth
health and wellness.
And so Beth, can you talk aboutwhat led you to become a
(06:00):
practitioner in this area?
Speaker 5 (06:02):
Sure, I will.
So I kind of, I kind of cameupon this topic naturally, uh,
growing up at the dinner table,we always talked about politics
and policy and the betterment ofthe community.
And I always thought that I were, would go into something
related to public education.
Um, in college, I got involvedwith some organizations that
(06:25):
worked on reproductive healthand my first job out of college,
I did a lot of work onchildren's health, public
policy, and then my next jobworking for a state
representative in Austin, I wasable to marry the two and worked
on sex education, women's healthand children's health.
(06:46):
And I, I don't know why, buthealth and particularly health
for populations that tend to bean afterthought became a really
important issue for me andchildren and teens and women
unfortunately fall into thosecategories.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Well, thank you so much for sharing that.
So let's get let's, let's talk alittle bit about this issue or
the concern for youth health andwellness.
What tell, tell me, why is itnecessary to focus on youth
health and wellness?
Speaker 5 (07:21):
Well, from the perspective of someone who works
on adolescent sexual health, I'dsay it's because, um, teens,
whether they become sexuallyactive as teens or as adults are
walking into sexually chargedcircumstances, unprepared, uh,
frankly, it's, you know, it'snot fair to teens and it is
(07:45):
adults prepare teens andchildren for every aspect of
life.
As adults we teach,'em how todrive cars.
We teach them how to managemoney.
We teach them how to do laundry,but when it comes to talking
about sex and sexual health orsilent, and that is really
(08:07):
hurting our young people,
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I can relate to that personally, honestly, because I
grew up in a family where thiskind of topic was not really
talked about.
You see some things, you mayhear some things, but there is
no sit down.
Let me tell you exactly what yousaw.
Let me tell you what you heard.
Let me explain this to you sothat you can understand, and
(08:31):
then obviously make choicesabout what you need to do
whenever you are confronted by ascenario of sort that has any of
this kind of involved in it,didn't have those kinds of
conversations with family,particularly.
And really the only thing that Iwas told is don't do right.
(08:54):
You know?
Yep.
Don't have sex and that's it.
Yeah.
But there was no otherconversation around this.
Um, you kind of, you had yourhealth class, you know, you
learned about some things, youknow, and during that time, um,
you know, they were, you know,quite conservative about some of
(09:18):
what you were learning in yourhealth class about, um, you
know, reproduction and all thosekinds of things, you know, your
body.
Right,
Speaker 5 (09:29):
Right, right.
Yeah.
And,
Speaker 3 (09:30):
But the, but the real conversation, the reality of
life, um, when it comes to thistopic was not a conversation and
it was not something that youcould, you could ask for or, or
initiate.
Right, right.
Cause you were rejected.
And that's my experience.
Right.
My family that's my experience.
And as the, as a, as a female, Iwas not to ask question.
(09:57):
Right.
These kinds of things.
Yes.
So, um, those kinds ofconversations did not happen in
my family.
So I can, I can relate to whatyou are saying, not to say it
was, it was good or bad, but Ican relate to not having the
conversation I can relate to nothaving the conversation.
And knowing that hindsight, theconversation would've been
(10:21):
beneficial.
If I had a family that was opento having the conversation, you
know?
Right.
Quite, quite candidly with me.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
Right.
Right.
And if you think about it, Imean, part of me, when I bring
up to subject is incrediblyfrustrated that adults don't
talk about it more, that parentsare so afraid of the issue that
you can't say vagina as easilyas you say elbow.
But if I stop and think about ita little more and take a step
(10:54):
back, I realize it's becauseadults don't have any contact
for how these conversationsshould go.
Because like you said, yourparents didn't talk to you.
I bet their parents didn't talkto them.
And this has never, I mean, thisis literally a cycle that has
not been broken.
So when you don't know how totalk about it, then why would
(11:17):
you talk about it?
Because it, it is awkward.
It is talking about, I mean,it's talking about sex.
No, no adult.
I mean, I do this for a livingand I still have to take a deep
breath before I answer aquestion that my eight year old
daughter has.
Um, and it's just, it's, it's,it's hard to talk about, but
(11:37):
once we can acknowledge that,then there are ways to break it
down and actually make it alittle less awkward and a little
bit easier.
So that these teens, when theyhave questions or they're in
uncomfortable situations, theydon't feel this level of shame
in asking trusted adults aboutbody parts or, um, for example,
(12:05):
mom, this is, this is a, shouldbe a question that should be
asked anywhere.
Mom, I can't wear tampon.
Why not?
There should not be shame inasking that question to a mom, a
teacher, you know, anybody.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Um, but I have a story about it.
I have a story about that, butI'm not gonna say that was gonna
say,
Speaker 5 (12:27):
Wow, you're talking about this on a podcast.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
You know, I, I don't have a problem sharing my at
life experiences because Ithink, you know, what, what I
went through in my life, I havemy own perspective.
It is gonna help someone, youknow, right.
No matter how rough, no matterhow hard it was, whatever my
life experiences were, myhistory, um, it, it will be
beneficial to someone.
(12:50):
So I I've learned, and it'staken me some time obviously to,
to get to this point to where I,I want to be open and
transparent about my own, youknow, experiences in life.
But what I really wanted to say,not to tell that story, maybe
I'll tell that story at anothertime, but
going to say, as you weretalking, I was reflecting on the
(13:13):
why, why is it a challenge foradults to have this
conversation?
And I know it is an awkwardthing.
It's awkward, it'suncomfortable.
And you even may have some thatwhoever it is that's asking the
(13:37):
question is not ready for theanswer.
Right, right.
But then I thought aboutsomething else, just again,
reflecting back on my own lifeexperiences in my own family
and, and, and such, I haveanother answer as well.
You know, we have a lot of whohave sexual abuse in their
(13:58):
history.
Mm-hmm
having this conversation istraumatizing.
Right?
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Having the conversation is not only
traumatizing, but there is alsoa say, instead, if I have this
conversation with you, I put youat risk to be in subject to
abuse.
Right.
And we can have moreconversation about this, but as
I'm reflecting on it, I, I wouldlike to suggest that that has a
(14:36):
lot of influence in thereasoning as to holding back
from having conversation.
Mm-hmm
family.
Yeah.
As to why these conversationsdid not come up.
And as I've, as I've grown olderand become more inquisitive to,
(14:58):
you know, the elders of myfamily now that my mother is no
longer alive.
Mm-hmm,
information that I did not knowwhen I was a child, because they
were like family secrets.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
Yes.
Yes.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Okay.
And so now these family secretshave come out and I have a
better understanding as to whycertain things occurred while I
was growing up.
Mm-hmm
the reasons why for my family,particularly I didn't get the
Speaker 5 (15:32):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, absolutely.
And there are, there are avariety of reasons that it
doesn't happen, which is why onething I talk about pretty often
is you can't tune out if you'renot a parent, you know, it's
not, yes, parents, we, we wantto help parents be able to have
(15:55):
these conversations with theirkids, but I'll often refer to
trusted adults because there maybe circumstances in which
parents absolutely cannot havethese conversations for reasons
that I will never understand.
And I'm not gonna try becausethat's disrespectful.
Um, but that's why, you know, apastor or even beyond the
(16:17):
education system, the teacher atthe afterschool program, the
nanny, uh, grandparents, aunts,and uncles, your best friends'
parents.
I mean, this is why as a whole,the community D needs to learn
how to be more open talkingabout this.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Well, can you share some topics of concern when it
comes to this topic of, ofhealth and wellness with youth?
What are, what are some of thetopics of concern that you would
say need to be discussed withyouth?
Speaker 5 (16:53):
Um, well, one topic of concern is that an
organization did a survey forthe Texas campaign to prevent
teen pregnancy.
They interviewed several hundredolder teens, young adults about
their experience with sexeducation and conversations
(17:13):
about sex growing up.
And, um, they discovered that82% of the young adults that
they interviewed said thatGoogle is their number one
resource for information aboutsexual health.
Wow.
So, yeah, so it might not be anissue of concern in additional
(17:35):
sense, like say using a condomevery time you have sex, but
just starting, just startingwith the fact that we're using
TikTok and Google and Instagramas primary sources of sex
education, where we know thatthere is so much inaccurate
information is an issue thatneeds to be addressed almost
(17:59):
before.
I mean, simultaneously, butalmost before we can address the
other issues.
Um, and in that same survey,they talked with parents and I
wanna say it was 96% of parentsthought that they should be
their teen's primary source ofinformation about sexual health.
But looking at those twonumbers, obviously there is a
(18:20):
disconnect between the two.
So just having the basicconversation is one place to
start.
Um,
conversations when you're nottalking about sex or your
private parts or boundaries orconsent.
(18:44):
And if you bring it up withpeople, you trust you being
teens, and you're told no knowwe, those are private.
We don't need to talk aboutthat.
Then there is a level of shamethat enters the picture when
thinking about sex or yourprivate parts, um, which can
translate into not havingconversations with adults, Beth,
Speaker 4 (19:06):
I think it's interesting that you bring up
the trusted adults and theimportance of the conversation
or the trusted adult being ableto have the conversation and not
just the parents.
Um, I was a four H leader, Ithink, off and on for about
seven years and my, the lastfour or five years that I was
four H leader, my group was allpreteen and teen.
(19:29):
I, I kind of started with agroup when they were in the
seventh or eighth grade andfollowed'em all the way through
until the last of the groupgraduated.
And, um, I, I know that a coupleof them did mention sex to me
before, but more than that, itwas the, it was having to talk
(19:50):
to them about relationship chipissues.
Um, there were a lot ofrelationship issues happening
outside of the group, but withinthe group, you know, both boys
and girls joined four H andwe're spending a lot of time
together and we're working onprojects together and we're
taking trips together, romancesare gonna form, you know, and so
had a few romances that formedin the group had one issue where
(20:14):
one, um, male member, um, endedup, um, feeding up another male
member over a girl.
And it just so turned out thatthe aggressor was president of
the group at the time, and thegirl was vice president of the
group.
And so I had to not only sortthrough that situation and talk
with them and talk with themabout appropriate relationships
(20:38):
and, and, and how to, how wehandle those things, but then
had to make some decisions aboutwhether or not I could allow
this kid to continue to bepresident when he's beat up
another now beating up anothermember, um, over a relationship
issue.
So whether in a, whether in atrusted adult wants to be
approached or not, when you'rein those sort of youth serving
(21:01):
positions, these kinds of thingscome up, these topics come up
and, you know, it's not justwhen we talk about sexual health
of adolescence, we're not justtalking about our private parts.
We're also talking aboutrelationships, right.
And being able to navigate thoserelationship discussions and
realize that when you have thatrelationship discussion, you
(21:23):
very well may hear one of thekids say, well, I'm already
having with her.
Mm-hmm
right to beat up that other kidor whatever, whatever the case
may be.
So I'm glad that you said that.
Um, and, and also in thinkingabout it, I know I had a mental
health provider come into thefour H group one time.
(21:43):
And the mental health providersaid make a list of adults that
you trust.
And I shocked when I was thenumber one adult on about six of
the kids lists, uh, you know, infront of their parents.
So I think these youth, I thinkyouth leaders don't always
realize what kind of a role youplay with the kids and how
important it is that you're ableto have these conversations.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
You're right.
That these questions can comeout of nowhere.
Um, I helped put together aconference for high school girls
, um, 10th, well, actually wedid two days, seventh and eighth
grade and 10th through 12thgrade.
And because of COVID, it wasonline.
So questions, they were a panelof doctors was, um, it was
(22:33):
anonymous.
And based on past experiences,we made this panel discussion
pretty much all Q and a, becausewe knew once we started talking
about sexual health andboundaries and relationship that
the question were gonna startflying and they did, and they
were great questions, but thetopics that came up were there
(22:57):
was a wide variety.
And, um, one issue that came upquite often was, oops.
I sent a nude picture to myboyfriend.
Now, what do I do?
Um, another one was, what do Ido if I think my friend is
(23:19):
pregnant, what do I do?
If I think my friend has beensexually abused, what is an St D
?
And this was a safe place forthem to ask these questions.
So yeah, if you're a safe adult,you better get ready.
Even if it's just to say, Idon't know, I will look into
this with you, but sometimes intalking with adults, these
questions catch people.
(23:40):
So off guard that they go withtheir gut instinct, which is,
whoa, I don't know what to do.
That's scary.
So we're just not gonna talkabout it.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
This brings me to another question that's coming
to mind.
And it's because of, you know,both of you working in this area
where you are doing youth basedservices and are focusing this
focusing in this area of health,I can only imagine that there
(24:13):
exists some challenges in thework that you do.
So can you talk a little bitabout some of the challenges
that you face in doing this workand, you know, maybe what are
some of the things that you'reto address some of these
challenges that you're having in, in working in this area?
Speaker 5 (24:34):
Hmm.
There are lots of challenges.
I'm trying to decide where tostart.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
that, that Beth has faced.
And I, I'll never one of the,when, when I Beth started with,
uh, the organization before Idid.
And so, um, I'll never forgetthat I wasn't, but maybe two
weeks into my job when Bethasked me to join a brainstorming
(25:02):
session, and I kept gettingreally frustrated about this
very issue, where had to look atme and say, Denise, we have to
work with everybody.
We have to work with everybody.
And I think, and, and thatchallenge is exactly that if you
want to bring together folks to,to, to talk about adolescent
health and you wanna make surethat your whole community is
(25:25):
involved, then you have torealize that you have different
voice with differentperspectives.
And you have to be very, verycareful not to, um, not to run
over any of those perspectivesand to value all of those
perspectives and bring all thoseperspectives together in the
work that you do.
And sometimes when there's aperspective, that's very
(25:47):
different than yours, that canbe challenging.
Speaker 5 (25:50):
Yeah.
Navigating the politics of sexis a challenge that I accept and
frankly, find fascinating.
And I love the challenge, but itcan also be like banging your
head against the wall.
It, it has become, and this is,this is a soapbox.
So I will try and keep it asbrief as possible, but it has
(26:12):
become so politically charged totalk about anything related to
reproductive health and sex.
That first you have to manage tobreak through that barrier and
assure people that it's okay.
That it is okay to have theseconversations.
It is okay to talk to me aboutthis.
(26:32):
Once you can navigate throughthat, you realize that people
want to be able to talk to teensabout sex and young people about
sex.
Um, but yes, it has gotten the,the politics of sex makes
everything more difficult.
(26:52):
And we can talk about that in a,in a later episode.
Um, but another challenge isthis idea that you have the talk
with your teenager and it lastsfor an hour and a half and you
cover everything they need toknow, and then you send them out
to the world and that's not howit works.
(27:15):
Um, the birds and the bees talkis a myth.
And actually it becomes easierwhen you realize that these,
this conversation needs to bebroken up into little bitty
conversations throughout achild's growing up, starting
with when they're tiny, teachingthem the right names for their
(27:35):
body parts and, you know,teaching them boundaries,
teaching them consent.
No, when little Jenny says shewants to use that crayon and
she's using it, you don't takeit away from her.
If somebody takes your pencilaway without asking, then you
can go say I was using thatpencil.
I'm not ready to share it yet.
(27:57):
And teaching them ageappropriate information all the
way through your growing up
And there is also this, thismyth, this idea that, oh, well,
if we're talking to childrenabout sex, then we're giving
them all of the same informationthat we would give a 17 year
(28:19):
old.
And that's not accurate either.
So breaking through some ofthese barriers that adults have
created for themselves, um,breaking down these barriers to
help adults understand that it'sokay to talk about this issue.
I mean, that, that, that is oneof the biggest barriers.
(28:41):
I mean, and there, there arebarriers related to, um, talking
about birth control there, youknow, this, this idea that birth
control talking about birthcontrol is going to encourage
teens to go become sexuallyactive, which is not true.
Research has shown that that isnot accurate.
(29:03):
Um, but yeah, I think I, thebiggest barrier and the two
biggest barriers are thepolitics of sex and just
breaking down the barriers tohelp adults know that it's okay
to talk about it.
Teens want the information.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
So I know that we're going to continue this
conversation, but before we endour session, I actually would
like to give you an opportunityto talk a little bit about some
resources, what are someresources that adults can access
in order to have thisconversation with the youth in
their life?
Speaker 4 (29:46):
I think Beth did a wonderful job sharing the, the
resources that, uh, that areavailable.
And, um, I think this is just areally, really important topic
and a topic that we need tolearn to not be so afraid of
and, and need to learn and to,to be able to come together and
talk about, and, and recognizethat this is, that the, that the
(30:08):
teens want to know.
And if we are unwilling to shareit with them, that doesn't mean
that their curiosity's going,going to go away.
That just means that they'regoing to search in places.
We'd probably rather they didn'tsearch in.
You know, you know, when you allwere telling your story at the
beginning of this podcast,about, about how sex was a topic
(30:31):
char you shared that, thatwasn't covered in your home at
all.
I thought back to my ownupbringing and it was a topic
that we really didn't talk aboutin my home except to say, no,
no, no, no.
And just like in your home.
And so I've always been anacademic learner.
So my response to that was to goto the public library behind my
parents' back and check out abook on birth control and the,
(30:57):
as much as you could get aboutsexual health at that point in
time, and to, to take it home,hide it from my parents and read
it.
And so I think that, um, and itwas an older book.
Um, I'm gonna date myself nowand say that, you know, it still
included things like the rhythmmethod in it.
So, you know, it was an, it wasdefinitely an older book.
(31:19):
Um, it probably even at thetime, an older book, not just
that I'm old, but at, it wasactually an older book.
So we've now replaced that withthe internet.
And so I think the internet isprobably, um, as reliable.
And I say that sarcastically asthe, as that older book was.
So I think it's just a, we justhave to recognize that that this
(31:42):
is, this is what's going to,this is what's going to occur if
we don't talk to our talk to ourkids.
Awesome.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
And I know that we're gonna be getting together and
talking more about thisparticular topic.
So I'm really excited.
I'm excited to learn more andI'm excited to share more in the
next conversations, enjoy therest of your day.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Bye bye.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
What a conversation, what a conversation so much can
be said about wellbeing andespecially the wellbeing of
youth transitioning intoadulthood and how in this
conversation led me to thinkmore about my own experiences
and their influence on who I amtoday.
(32:32):
A simple takeaway, I would say atakeaway that is meaningful for
me is the need to talk early andto talk often parents,
guardians, supportive adults.
If you are listening, thinkabout creating and seizing the
opportunities.
You have to engage the youth inyour life and conversation about
(32:55):
their health to ensure theirwellbeing.
Don't leave it to social media.
Don't leave it to the internet.
Don't leave it to the movies.
Don't leave it to reality showsor, or even someone else to feed
them the nuggets ofunderstanding and wisdom that
they need.
Talking with youth.
Doesn't have to be weird andknow that there is support out
(33:16):
there for you.
If you need it, if is achallenge for you, or if it's
difficult for you to have thistalk, then think about
connecting with someone, atrusted adult to have talks with
you.
Not for you, talks with you thatwill help to ease the stress or
ease the discomfort that you mayfeel when have in these
(33:39):
conversations.
But more importantly, have theconversation it is needed.
It is needed not just for whereyour youth is today.
It is needed for where they willbe tomorrow.
Have the conversation, havemultiple conversations.
Don't stop having theconversations and make it okay
(34:03):
to initiate conversation asoften as needed.
Well, Sunday listeners, there ismore to come on this topic.
So stay tuned.
If you appreciate it, listeningto this episode, write a review
to share your, share thispodcast episode with others and
(34:24):
subscribe wherever you listen topodcasts to keep up with this
show.
Do you have a question you wantanswered in a future show?
Do you have topic ideas orfeedback to support creation or
future shows?
Would you like to be a guestconnect with me through email,
send messages tossinspiredcast@gmail.com,
(34:50):
ssinspiredcast@gmail.com untilnext time Sunday listeners live
on purpose.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
Thank you for listening to Sundays with Shavel
subscribe, wherever you listento podcasts and be sure to tune
in next time for another socialwork inspired episode.
Goodbye.
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