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It might have been the hip music, humorous skits, or the delightful meal served by the Madison grass roots organization, “Boyz to Kings,” but on Saturday, July 29, at the Madison Senior Citizens Center, hopes and expectations were flying high for the couples at the event hosted by IMPACT, the Sexual Risk Avoidance program with the Florida Department of Health in Madison. The mission of the DOH-Madison IMPACT program is to educate parents and teens about health and sexual responsibility. “We Still Got it” gave parents of the Madison, Fl. community the opportunity to get away for a night and enjoy a free meal provided by local mentoring group, Boyz to Kings, and a good time, as well as free, crucial advice on addressing necessary sexual health family conversations.
The theme of the evening was “Empowering families to make safe choices” while at the same time reminding the adults of their own significance in shaping their child’s character. Through witty and well performed skits illustrating how miscommunication blows parent to child talks out of hand, as well as engaging lectures by IMPACT Health Educator Merv Mattair and guest speaker, Pamela Robinson, this was accomplished.
The speakers addressed the crowd on how to engage with their children on the topics of sexual responsibility, destructive effects of the media on youth, the consequences of taking sexual risks, and most importantly, emphasized the benefits of talking with teens on the subject.
Pamela Robinson, the panel speaker and former health educator with the Sexual Risk Avoidance IMPACT program, challenged parents to advocate making wise health conscious choices. “Don’t raise your children to have more than you had,” she said. “Raise them to be more than you were.” Urging parents to strengthen strong bonds with their children, she shared a multimedia presentation on recognizing a guardian’s influence on their child’s future decisions. Tamara Johnson, another health educator with the IMPACT program and one of the coordinators of the event, shared that Robinson emphasized how important it is to support your kids as they make well informed and positive choices.
Over fifty people attended the event, which was a follow up to “She’s Still Got It”, a woman’s event where ladies were served a meal and treated to a special night of their own. At “We Still Got It” the tradition of serving the guests a free meal and fresh tunes was enjoyed by the adult couples in attendance.