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    REACH Parent Teacher Student Institute

    Saturday, August 23rd, 2025

    3-5 PM

    Wetmore Center LPDC, 701 W. Wetmore Rd. Tucson, AZ 85705

    Teachers, parents, and students (10 years and older) are invited to join us!

    Cookies will be served.

    Dr. Berens profile picture Dr. Vanessa Berens from Beljan Psychological Services will present: "Gifted Gen Z: Social Media and Video Games: Can't Live Without Them, Can't Thrive With Them".  Learn more about Dr. Berens here.

    Session Description: It is said of gifted children and teenagers that, “Anything worth feeling is worth over feeling, and anything worth doing is worth overdoing.” The pitfalls of this gifted way of being will be discussed in the context of Generation Z (Gen Z), social media and technology. It has been documented that males and females began expressing epidemic levels of depression, anxiety, and low motivation since the release of the iPhone in 2010. This presentation examines how the change in technology has changed and challenged childhood and adolescent development. It will examine the ‘how's and why's’ of declines in mental health, social connections, sleep, and attention, with an emphasis on gifted and gender differences. Various topics include the loss of a play-based childhood, fear-based parenting, and the lack of interpersonal socialization. The presentation will finish with logical suggestions about how to help support our children and improve their mental health. 

    Dr. Beljan smilingDr. Paul Beljan from Beljan Psychological Services will present "The Nuts and Bolts of Bullying".  Learn more about Dr. Beljan here.

    Session Description: Bullying is a repeated and chronic pattern of hurtful behavior involving intent to maintain an imbalance of power over another.  Bullying has many causes and means of expression.  It is something no child should have to endure.  Bullying occurs in many environments. There are short and long-term consequences of bullying that can carry on into adulthood.  This lecture will discuss concepts related to bullying, which include: projective identification, non-altruistic empathy, innate aggressiveness.  The role of the media, video gaming and its culture, and parenting will also be discussed. 

    Popular culture presents many myths about bullies and their victims.  In reality, bullying is often sustained because, in many parts of society, it is valued and rewarded.  Parents are provided with ideas about how to deal with a bullying child, that child’s school, and their parents.  Teachers are offered ideas on how to identify bullying and quell the behavior.  Finally, ideas are provided for children and how they can protect themselves from bullying and how to deal with a bully.