I INTRODUCTION
II CHILD ABUSE
III COP’S VIDEO
IV BRENT’S STORY
V HUMAN VIDEO (DANCE)
VI QUESTIONS AND ANSWER SESSION
TOPICS DISCUSSED
I HOW YOUR CHOICES EFFECT EVERYONE
A THOSE WHO LOVE YOU
B YOUR FRIENDS
C YOUR COMMUNITY
D VICTIMS
II HOW DRUGS AND ALCOHOL LEAD TO BAD CHOICES
A CRIMES ARE COMMITTED
B ULTIMATELY, COULD LEAD TO DEATH
III GETTING HELP
A SCHOOL COUNSELING/PRIVATE COUNSELING
B DRUG AND ALCOHOL REHABILITATION PROGRAMS
Our goal is to educate youth, parents and the public about the effects of violence. Through our presentation on choices, we share our own real life stories in a very graphic and powerful way. We bring reality to the youth of today in a way that they can understand: through a Mother’s Heart.
“We believe in touching one kid at a time”
Because our message is so powerful and graphic we
highly suggest there be a follow up discussion with the students afterwards.
We have found that the students have many feelings going on inside of them as a
result of this program and need a processing time before returning to their
regular curriculum.
Some examples of questions you might ask to stimulate conversation:
1. How did this message make you feel?
2. How many of you have lost a loved one or friend to homicide?
3. Because of what you just heard, how many of you feel you will make different
choices after today?
4. Add discussions on anger and grieving.
Recommended support groups:
| 1. Pathways | 602-453-9911 | drug program for teens |
| 2. Alateen | 602-249-1257 | |
| 3. New Song | 480-951-8985 | grieving center for kids |
| 4. Teen Challenge | 602-271-4081 |
INFORMATION FOR SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Who are we?
When Debbie & Doug Parnham were touched by the murder of their son, Brent, in December 1992, their immediate reaction was to prevent further violence amongst teenagers. Our program, called “CHOICES”, is approximately two hours in length (that can be modified). Our audience is 6th graders and up. The program is graphic in nature and does not sugar coat violence in any way because of the amount of time kids have already been exposed to it in the movies and the video games that they play. What we present to them is the reality of violence, coming from a surviving Mother’s heart. Violence is real. Its devastating affects are real and traumatizing to the community. We show the television show, Cop’s, the actual film footage of our son lying in the street. We also show pictures of our son Brent from his early childhood to his body lying in the morgue at age 16. Debbie also shares how abuse in her childhood affected her self- image and how she overcame her adversity as a child and as a mother who lost a son. Since 1998 we have spoken to approximately 27,000 teens and parents.
We request that the content of the program be withheld from the students prior to the presentation and that the students be told only that the program is called “Choices” how to make better choices for their lives. This is an anti-violence, anti drug/alcohol program.
We encourage the schools to let all students attend the presentation and not just those individuals who display destructive tendencies.
We recommend that the program be scheduled for the first half of the week if possible.
Enclosed is a teacher’s letter (for use after the program for post-processing with the students.)
Teachers should be informed in advance of the nature and content of the program.
A returnable questionnaire will be left for the students to fill out afterwards. Please have them filled out and returned to Life Sentence within 1 week.
Some schools choose to get parental consent prior to the program and also provide additional counselors to assist in the post processing.
We provide our own sound system. We do require however, a TV/VCR and an overhead projector for the presentation. For out of state programs we also need sound system with CD player.
It is important to start at the scheduled time due to the amount of material we need to cover in the time allowed.
Thank you, if you have any questions please feel free to call Debbie Parnham 623-879-8028.