fo els

Volunteers get
preparation for —

work with teens |

The Terrace Youth Centre is
off and running, and every in-
dication is that it will continue to
grow. Following a recent work-
shop for Youth Centre volun-
teers, instructor Marylin Mar-
diros described the volunteers as
energetic with the insight and
sensitivity to work with teens.
“If anybody can do a good job,
they will be the group,’’ she
said.

Mardiros, an RN with a PhD
in Medical Anthropology, has
taught Nursing at UBC, has
worked with teens in community
and mental health settings and
has just recently completed a
two-year program in New
Aiyansh where whe was the
coordinator for the Native Nurs-
ing Program.

She said the purpose of the
workshop was to focus attention
on the volunteers, their com-
mitments and what it means to
their personal lives. ‘I find that
what happens,’’ said Mardiros,
‘is that they lose sight of their
own needs. And in order to
work effectively, especially in
such an area as teens which is so
demanding, they need to know
their limitations in the volunteer
role. Most of them have com-
mitments, full time, outside of
being a volunteer, so they’re
asking a lot of themselves.”

Mardiros said that through
the process of the workshop,
Youth Centre volunteers also
gained strength through the
knowledge that their own
teenage experiences are still
relevant in understanding the
teen of today.

Mardiros said this was the
first. time she had met this par-
ticular group of volunteers, and
following the workshop she
said, ‘‘I think they're tremen-
dous. There’s so much strength
in that group. The energy is
there, the strength is there, and
the knowledge they need is
there.’’

_ Having been a resident of Ter-
race for the past three years, and
drawing on her background of
related experience as well as that
of her husband, who is a lawyer
in Terrace, Mardiros continued
by describing today’s teenager
and the need for a local youth
center,

*T believe that society does
not value the teen,’’ said Mar-
diros. ‘‘They are seen more as a
burden on society rather than a
plus, and we don’t know what to
do with them — we don’t have
any meaningful experiences out
there for them,”

During the workshop the
group discussed the importance
of exposing teens to other
groups in society and not
segregating them from the adult
world, ‘‘That’s a very important
thing’? she said. ‘‘Although
there are certain activities that
are necessary for teens, teens
also need to be included and
valued by other age groups in
the community.

“You don't learn about life
by just staying with your own
group. You need the influence
of all ages and our age-
segregated society is just a ver
negative thing.”

She explained that jobs and
recreation alone aren’t a solu-
tion in themselves, but they can
be useful in working towards a

‘society that includes teens in its

activities.
_ She said the best solution
would be to revert to more tradi-

tional social standards, but that
may not be possible. ‘‘It would
be nice to see the whole idea of
families coming back together,
but many families have proven
to be so dysfunctional. A lot of
the kids that may be going to the
center may be kids who can’t
turn to family members and who
need a variety of people of dif-
ferent ages. .

“I think that teens are quite
amenable to having people that
are in their twenties, thirties and
forties around them. They’re
not averse to that at all. It’s just
a foreign thing to a lot of kids
but they really need that to steer
them right. They need to see that
they can survive their teen years
and go into adulthood, and if
mistakes are made along the way
they can live through those
mistakes.”’

‘When the group develops ac- .

tivities,” she explained, ‘‘they
have to get the kids to develop
useful skills. Leading. groups,
working with the elderly, doing

ne

Karen Focker, community relations representative for the Terrace McDonald's franchise, recently presented a

voucher for dinner for two at the fast-food restaurant to Jason Lawson, winner of the new Terrace Youth Centre
logo design contest. Lawson was one of several local youths who undertook artwork and other decorative projects
to spruce up the Youth Centre’s Ukrainian Hall headquarters.

volunteer work — those can be
some of the things that they can
get the kids involved in.
Mardiros added that the
breakdown of the family unit is
not the only social factor affec-

ting teens today. Unemploy-
ment, or under-employment, of
teens because of age or union
policies adds to the problem.
‘‘They have to learn things
that are useful. They need

somewhere to learn as well as
make money. Not make-work
projects — that’s not what they
need.”

There were over 22,000 cases of poisoning reported in B.C. in 1987.

Approximately 50% of these were in children under five years old.
Many poisonings that happen are preventable. There are some
easy steps to poison-proofing the home.

One of the easiest is to clean out your medicine cabinet and bring those unused and
outdated prescription and non-prescription drugs to Northern Drugs for disposal.

To encourage you to return your old prescription and non-prescription drugs to
Northern Drugs, we are holding a draw for a FREE 22-inch Gund Plush Crumpet
Bunny — just in time for Easter.
Just bring in your outdated drugs to Northern Drugs between now and April 1st and
we'll give you one entry for every item you return. The more you bring in the better
your chances and the safer your home will be.

Draw to be made on Saturday, April 2, 1988.

For more information contact our pharmacists at 635-6555.

Y

drugs

230-4741 Lakelse Avenue, Terrace, B.C.

635-6555

For More Information Contact:

We

Colleen Metge 263-2766

| i B.C, Pharmacists’ Society

( . Debra Freeman Kent 682-2344, Ext. 2126
B.C. Drug and Poison Information Centre