KCAP Teen Topics Proposal: (Draft)

KCAP Teen Topics Proposal: (Draft)

Rationale:

As our children grow up, they are busily involved in many kinds of activities. They grow apart because their interests very. As we all know that teens are finding their places in this world as we are trying to figure them out. It’s very easy for families to lose sight of things that are important. Although we come from different walks of life, adoption is one true fact that link all of us together. No matter what path your family chooses, we all have celebrations and challenges with this issue. It terrifies me that the teenage depression and suicidal rates rise quickly in today’s society. Our kids are strong and resilient, but this doesn’t mean that they don’t need a safe place to vent and let out their frustrations. A class like this can be helpful to bring the girls together to create a safe bound. In the long run, we could create opportunities to pair up the younger adoptees as buddies. The younger children look up to the older children, and the older children gain a sense of accomplishment for being helpful for others. With your support I hope to create such an environment where our children can express their feelings and emotions without being judged. If you feel that your child may benefit from this kind of bounding process, let’s work together to make this happen.

Proposed Activities During KCAP:

1. Open ended discussions of school related topics. There may be one topic each week or one topic last over several weeks. Topics can be pre-selected or student selected. They can be totally guided by the need at the moment. My role is a facilitator. All voices are valued.

Here are a few examples, these can be changed or altered in any way to meet the needs of discussion:

1. What kind of things have I encountered in the new school year? Are these events beneficial for me? Why or why not?

2.When making new friends, what am I looking for? Who should I hang out with, who should I not? Why?

3.Are there stereotypical expectations for Asian students? If there are, what are they? How do I fit into this? How should I respond when I am being judged by this stereotype in our environment?

4.What should be my response when someone asks me, “Are you adopted?” “Where are your real parents?”

5.People call us Screenagers. What’s reasonable amount of time I spend in front of a screen? What’s my opinion of using social media for communications? What’s do I need to be aware of? Why?

6.How do I see myself in my family photo?

7.How do I celebrate my Birthday, Gotcha Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day? How do I feel on these days? What does my family do or other families do on these days?

8.How do I feel about my birth parents? Should I search for them? How will my adoptive parents feel about me searching?

9.Do I feel comfortable talking about my birth parents? Why or why not?

10.If I am an adoptive parent, what would I do for my child?

11.What ways can we help our adoptive parents to understand us?

12.If I write a letter to my orphanage, what will I say?

13.Invite entrepreneur parents to share their success and challenges.

14.What kind of career am I thinking of?

15.Guest speakers are invited, they are ready to help when we need.

1. Orphan World Relief – Contact person Doug Riggle
2. Live Wellness Center Licensed professional consular -Julie Richards (adoptive parent). (TBRI trained. -Trust Based Relational Intervention)
3. Ohio State University adult adoptee, peer model-Jaz Folden-
4. Franklin County Public Defender -Juvenile Division, Elizabeth Wachsman, Staff Attorney.
5. Columbus Police officer-Sean Bonn
6. COFAF – Contact Person Deborah Miller-Gnann

1. Organization at Each Session:

1.Open with team building activities. First of all, add each other’s contact information. We may set up a WeChat group for announcements and chats. There can be board games. Interactive warm ups, questions, telephones, trivia games, flexible grouping games, sharing celebrations and challenges of the day… etc.

2.Present topic of the day by way of viewing a video clip, or a piece of literature, a saying, a current event, a selected book, a movie clip, etc. There are also activities for volunteering to charities such as Comfy Kits from Orphan World Relief. We can invite guest speakers within or outside of adoption community. I have invited an adoptee and a police officer for self-defense strategies. There are several entrepreneur adoptive parents who are willing to share their success stories.

3.Turn and talk, discussions, sharing opinions, being quiet and listen, paper and pencil responses, private thoughts in note books, group or partner presentations on posters, drawings, lists, skits… etc.

4.Conclusion and solutions if possible. Have lunch after class. Most importantly, I hope they have fun with each other.

5.Chinese language and culture will be blended in when possible. If time allows I will incorporate language learning using Confucius Rule Book.

6.Grouping Method: When necessary, children can be grouped by age, interests, choices, or random. Group size can be whole group, small group or pairs. Older participants may be asked to help facilitate.

7. Children are encouraged to take on responsibilities as group leaders as they become more comfortable in the group.

1. Resources:

16.COFAF – Contact Person Deborah Miller-Gnann

17.Orphan World Relief – Contact person Doug Riggle

18.Live Wellness CenterLicensed professional consular-Julie Richards (adoptive parent). (TBRI trained. -Trust Based Relational Intervention)

19.Ohio State Universityadult adoptee, peer model-Jaz Folden-

20.Franklin County Public Defender -Juvenile Division, Elizabeth Wachsman, Staff Attorney.

21.Columbus Police officer-Sean Bonn