STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — The Jefferson County Juvenile Task Force teamed up with motivational speaker David Kohout this week, visiting local middle and high schools for a parent session at 7 Ranges Entertainment.
The goal — to give parents tools to strengthen communication at home, improve their own mental health, and understand how today’s technology is shaping kids’ lives.
During the event, Kohout encouraged parents to see their children not just as they are, but as who they can become. He reminds them that choices have consequences, and that every kid makes mistakes.
“We take care of the kids and Jefferson County,” Jamie Dent, a juvenile probation officer for Jefferson County Juvenile Court, said. “We know that we need to take care of the people taking care of the youth in the county, so we provided the same speaker that we did in the schools for this community event tonight and we also offered the kids a hour of free play in the arcade here at 7 Ranges.”
Kohout told parents they play a crucial role in grounding their children, especially with the pressures and distractions teens face today. Meanwhile, prevention educators showed parents how everyday items could hide vape pods or illegal substances.
“They got to see the value in their student, no matter how much their own child could be driving them crazy and to just fight for these kids because right now they’re in a crazy world that’s drawing them and all these different directions and get them back to that focal point that you matter, you could be a maker and you can’t quit,” Kohout said.
“What parents need to physically go into their children’s room, pick things up and look at things because you might see something that looks like a hairbrush or a scrunchie, but upon picking it up, you see that there is a zipper here inside of the zipper,” Allison Boston, Family Recovery Center prevention education supervisor, said. “There is a jewel pod. It’s just totally unassuming looking and things like that that’s why you need to physically pick them up and look. This looks like a square for a phone charger but actually it comes apart and it’s a good hiding place or stash for just about anything that they can have that they shouldn’t have.”
Representatives from the juvenile task force say they plan to keep partnering with schools to provide this type of education to kids and parents.