Thursday, February 5, 2015

Cops, Kids And Community

By Saleem Rana


Lon Woodbury, host of The Woodbury Report radio show on K4HD.com, spoke to Idaho police officer, Jermaine Galloway on the show's theme of "Cops, Kids and Community."

An Independent Educational Consultant since 1984, Lon Woodbury has worked with struggling teenagers and their families. An author on parenting books, he is also the founder of two businesses. One is Struggling Teens, Inc. The other is Woodbury Reports.

Guest Profile

Officer Jermaine Galloway has been an Idaho law enforcement officer since 1997 and has more than 11 years experience in underage drinking, drug and alcohol enforcement. He has worked several different assignments, including: crime scene investigation (CSI), DUI task force, officer mentoring, and as a field training officer. He received his BA from the University of San Francisco and is currently an adjunct instructor at NNU (Northwest Nazarene University).

Struggling Teens Receive Help From Cops, Kids, and Community

Officer Jermaine began the interview by talking about how the drug and alcohol scene had changed drastically over the years. He said that experimenting with marijuana itself was a whole new experience because the drug had a level of potency never seen before.

Officer Jermaine shared with Lon the advice he offered to parents who approached him for help. "I try to tell parents that there are different levels of drug and alcohol usage from addicts to experimentation and kids are still kids. They are learning and growing and many kids are doing exceptional.

One thing the officer suggested was that parents become better listeners. Instead of jumping to conclusions about their son's or daughter's strange behavior, they should listen and discern. He suggested parents spend more time asking questions than leading the discussion. Often unusual behavior was not due to drugs, but struggles like poor grades or a broken relationship.

The guest will often use theatrical props in his presentation to parents. He will recreate a teenager's bedroom, using the furniture, pop culture posters, and messiness associated with this type of room. Parents are then educated about cryptic symbols in clothes, learn about what kind of music encourages drug use, and learn some favorite places where teens might hide their drugs.

Toward the close of the interview, Officer Jermaine talked about what parents can do to protect their kids, and recommended that they join and support community programs designed to raise awareness about negative social trends among youth.




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