On June 11th Judy Pluta, our director of Youth Ministry, is hosting an event for parents—repeat: an event for parents of teens and young adults—about the challenges our young people face in today’s world—from dealing appropriately with grief, anxiety and depression to body image and fitting in—and things in between. This is a timely discussion due to the recent tragedies in Simsbury—and with the overall stress in our world. A

licensed family therapist will be leading our discussion. We hope parents will attend this dialogue as it is important for all of us to learn and to be involved.

Our youth are asking questions. In recent weeks, Simsbury has suffered some traumatic losses among our younger population—these tragedies have sparked questions from our youth—questions that they are asking and discussing among themselves. We need to make sure that the most appropriate guidance is available to them. After all, television personalities, music icons and movie stars do not always offer the best role modeling—and discussion among like-minded teenagers may not always provide for a depth of practical experience and age-based wisdom. Parents may be the last to know what’s going on in their child’s life; it is wonderful that our young people find our Youth Ministry a safe and comfortable place to raise their concerns.

Experience, Knowledge and Wisdom. Everyone likes to believe that they (or their children) are unique, but truth be told—we all have much more in common than we like to think— remember the Bell Curve! If one child is thinking something or experiencing challenges, then chances are others are also. Jeanne Van Schaasck, Licensed Family Therapist, will be here at Saint Catherine on June 11th to talk about important issues and strategies you might employ in conversation with our children to help them navigate a very different world than we all experienced 25 or 30 years ago. In 1978 the college application process was simple: pick three schools, apply, pay and go. Perhaps it involved one or two AP courses but unlike today’s emphasis on “building a resume” for college—high school was high school and college was college. Not so today. Overwhelming pressure to succeed in school and stress to fit in to a particular body shape—coupled with television shows, movies, music and the advertising indus-try’s focus on all the wrong things—calls us to recognize the is-sues and regain the rudder of family life so that we can help our young navigate this ever-changing world.

Are we beating our “heads against a brick wall?” No. Human nature still seeks the excellence—and the excellence is found amid family life. And it is in the midst of family life that we can more successfully teach our young how to respond appro-priately to serious and sometimes very tragic situations that are compounded by the teenage years. Today’s world only adds to the stress and pressure on our young. By way of example: Aber-crombie & Fitch (A&F), a well-known clothing store chain, mar-kets their clothes to “the all-American kid” yet their strategy reaches out to the “good looking and well-built ‘American male and female,’” according to their own president and CEO. In fact, if you don’t fit into their marketing image—and not everyone does—they basically don’t market to you. However, in the last year, A&F sales dropped an unprecedented 17% -- and that’s not just a slumping economy—as some professionals believe it is a rejection by the young of this “manufactured” and often time’s “air-brushed” client base. To put it another way, the drop in sales might just be a cry for help against all this stress and pressure of being perfect. This might just be the perfect time to do some-thing about all this manufactured stress. Let’s start right here at St. Catherine of Siena. I hope you will consider attending this June 11th Special Youth Ministry dialogue for parents of teenagers and young adults. It is at 7 p.m. in Russell Hall. We hope to begin what is a series of topical discussions aimed at helping “parents’ parent” and “teenagers be teenagers” in a healthier and most appropriate way possible. Join us, won’t you?