2013-i-heart-teen-conferencesEbony Holloway, BGCM’s Asbury Park Unit Assistant Childcare Director, offered her skills and services on Wednesday, April 17th at Planned Parenthood’s (The Central and Greater Northern New Jersey Corporation) annual conference for high school students, held at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, New Jersey.  More than 200 teenagers attended the event from all across the state, where teenagers were given the opportunity to interact and freely discuss important topics in an educational and supportive environment.  The conference consisted of interactive workshops and activities as well as presentations from significant speakers involving sexual health and other crucial topics. The keynote presentation was an interactive theatrical performance held by FACES, a teen drama group that performs educational and entertaining plays regarding sex health issues.
Holloway operated a workshop involving homophobia, where she and the teenagers talked about young LGBT teens who face troubles and difficulties for being part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender communities.  During the workshop, some of the teens performed role-playing skits to help in the understanding of being part of LGBT.  This provided an effective as well as entertaining representation and display of the feelings, perceptions and challenges LGBT teens can face on a daily basis.  After the skits, the teens broke into groups holding discussions about the topic in order to obtain a better comprehension and to overcome the negatives of homophobia.

Holloway was also part of a “Kiss and Tell” workshop, pertaining to the topic of how to talk to your parents about sexual activities.  This workshop was also activity-based and took a hands on approach.  Teens were given cards marked with different roles, and they acted in a performance based on the role they were given.  This was certainly a helpful and influential exercise, being able to step into the shoes of the parent and teen, without judgements, nerves, or uncomfortable feelings. This enabled the teens to freely and positively engage in discussion about vital topics.

We commend Holloway for being part of such an impressive conference that deals with major societal and every day  issues in teens’ lives!  It is no surprise to us that Holloway offered insightful information and provided the effective administration of workshops, since she acts as a positive influence for our teen and youth members everyday at the Asbury Park Unit!

For more information about the conference or Planned Parenthood, visit www.plannedparenthood.org.

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