New course of highly popular Let’s Talk Teenagers sessions starts this Autumn

The second series of highly successful webinars for parents of teenagers is set to kick off this autumn, covering a range of new topics.

Let's Talk Teenagers is a series of online support sessions and an opportunity for parents and carers of teenagers to hear about the challenges young people are facing today and discover ways to help them navigate their way through them.

The sessions have been running throughout 2022 and discuss the tools and techniques that can be used to support young people and their community. The latest sessions, starting on Tuesday 13 September and running weekly until 4 October, with an added session on Wednesday 5 October, cover topics such as exploring teenage relationships, mental health and emotional wellbeing, anger and challenging behaviour, bullying and online challenges including preventing radicalisation.

There will be an updated toolkit available after the courses for everyone who signs up to this free event, which also covers topics from earlier sessions such as drugs and alcohol, body image, self-care and social and emotional changes.

The project has been produced with funding and support from the South Devon and Dartmoor Community Safety Partnership, Teignbridge and South Hams District Councils, Teignbridge Council for Voluntary Service, the Safety and Resilience Consultancy, Devon County Council, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Safer Devon Partnership.

Rebecca Hewitt, Teignbridge Council’s Safeguarding Lead and Chair of the South Devon and Dartmoor Partnership said:

“The success of these courses lies in the desire of parents to find out how best they can support their teenagers through what is often the most difficult stage of their lives.

“We’ve been completely amazed by the number of people who have signed up for these sessions – we had almost 800 people sign up for one or more of them – and we're absolutely delighted with the positive feedback.

“We’re hoping to attract more people – particularly fathers and male carers as well as people who’ve attended previous sessions. They’re free and easy to sign up for and are just an hour a week!”

The sessions are delivered by parenting experts Emma Stephens and Chloe Hosegrove from the Safety and Resilience Consultancy.

Emma said:

“We were overwhelmed with the testimonies from people who’ve joined these webinars, and we’re really pleased to have developed these new sessions shaped by the feedback from participants of previous sessions.

“The course aims to help any parents or carers to help their teenager navigate the world around them; as well as find ways to discuss what could be perceived as difficult subjects; and to identify and support them when they’re struggling.”

Anyone who would like to find out more or book their free place to these online sessions can visit the website devon.cc/teenagers.

Courses aimed at parents and carers, or pre-teens are being planned for November.