Parenting Awareness Conference equips parents to help their kids

Rare is the parent who has not experienced a child hitting middle school and morphing from a once-bubbly kid into a cipher who holes up in their room and answers questions in monosyllables. Parental panic kicks in. Is my child depressed? Being bullied at school? Doing drugs? As kids navigate adolescence, it’s not uncommon for them to engage in negative self-talk about hating how they look, that they have no friends, that they are “ugly” or “a loser.” The protective parent wants to jump in and assure them that they are beautiful, brilliant and everyone loves them. 

Resist the urge to contradict your child when this happens, counseled Malik Marrero, a senior family support specialist at Wayside Youth and Family Support Network. “Find a space to listen, not react,” he said. “By listening, you are validating how they feel. It doesn’t have to be true.” He also suggested parents not jump in with advice but “allow your child to find a solution for themselves.”

Marrero was one of dozens of experts who spoke at the Parenting Awareness Conference held March 7 at Waltham High School. His talk on “Recognizing Early Signs of Mental Health Needs in Our Kids” was one of 11 workshops offered. Some sessions had an academic focus, such as getting ready for kindergarten, understanding school curricula, navigating the online portal for checking students’ grades and finding summer internships. Others were about physical and mental health, including concussions, mental health in kids, family stress, risky behaviors, relationships and reducing stress through interacting with the natural world.

The conference evolved from a workshop on mental health awareness held eight years ago at Northeast Elementary School. The presenter spoke about a desire to see a citywide program. Nadene Stein, who retired in December as assistant superintendent of pupil services for Waltham Public Schools, took up the idea and in 2020 launched the first districtwide conference in March, which is Mental Health Awareness Month. That event coincided with the COVID-19 lockdown, and only eight parents attended. Stein persisted, producing an online conference in 2021, then holding it at McDevitt Middle School in 2022 and Kennedy Middle School from 2023 to 2025. This year was the first at the new high school. 

Local nonprofits offering services for children and families lined the common-area space. There were raffles giving away toys, gift certificates from local shops and highly coveted “principal-for-the-day” prizes. The organizers provided breakfast and lunch. 

Around 30 families attended the workshops and festivities. “Families get busy,” said Stein. “It’s hard to get people to come.” For the families that did make the time, the conference offered a wealth of valuable information, a chance to converse with other parents, contacts with local providers and the reassurance of knowing they are not alone in their journey.