Teens bring concerns to mini-conference

Photo by Charmain Z. Brackett About a dozen teens, children of active duty and retirees, met Nov. 14 for a teen Army Family Action Plan conference at the Fort Gordon Family Outreach Center. The Army Family Action Plan (AFAP) conference isn’t scheduled until January, but about a dozen teens got to speak their minds in a miniconference just for them on Saturday at the Family Outreach Center.

“This gives us the opportunity to help Fort Gordon out with a bunch of ideas and get teens together,” said Patrice Tyler, an Academy of Richmond County freshman and daughter of Staff Sgt. Duane Tyler, who was a delegate to the teen conference.

Teens brainstormed for issues concerning them and made suggestions, which will be submitted along the proper chain for action.

One of the special guests at the conference was Col. Glenn Kennedy, garrison commander.

“They have a lot of good ideas. A number of the issues can be solved at the local level,” said Kennedy.

The top three concerns the teens decided upon were forming a teen planning committee, medication pickup for teens and employment opportunities at Fort Gordon.

“There’s nothing for us to do,” said Tyler. “It’s mainly for the middle school.”

A teen council could put together programs for high school aged students such as support groups after school and weekend activities.

Another concern for teens is not being able to pick up their own medication. Currently, a parent must pick it up and have the teen’s ID at the time.

The proposed solution would be to create a wellness, education and clinic program. There would be a health education class during which teens would receive a card which would allow them to pick up prescriptions with the exception of controlled substances.

The final topic was teen employment. The teens said they’d like to see an employment counselor hired just for them. That person would help them write resumes and find job opportunities.

Vanessa Stanley, chief of Fort Gordon’s Army Community Service, said she was excited about the one-day event.

“They rose to the occasion,” she said. “We are very fortunate to have some of the best and brightest of our youth represented.”

Teri Ryan, Fort Gordon’s AFAP coordinator, said she hopes to have one of the teen delegates represented at the Fort Gordon conference to present their topics.