“It’s a school night, do you know where your children are?”

That is the title of the free Raising Kids in Troubled Times parent seminar being hosted by the Ames Community Schools Family Resource Counselors on Saturday in the Ames High School multipurpose room.

“I think that every parent needs education, they need to know about their children,” said Clemmyi Jackson, accelerated learning program coordinator.

“I think the more information you know, the better off you are. Being prepared and knowing beforehand is the key — prevention, really.”

She said the seminar is not just for parents of children who have problems. “It doesn’t mean by attending this that your child has problems,” she said. “It’s an awareness type of thing, also.”

Family resource counselors will run a general session and several break out sessions dealing with problems and concerns that children and teens encounter today.

Topics discussed will include setting limits, stress, pressure, depression, eating disorders, grief and loss, effective communication, building positive self esteem and strengthening developmental assets in youth.

How to identify problems as well as practical intervention and prevention strategies for parents will also be discussed.

“We will give parents tools they can work with in helping their children,” Jackson said. By tools, she said, she means information like signs of problems, places to go for help and what parents can do to help.

For example, Jackson said they will discuss behavioral signs of eating disorders and how to get children who have them help, how to understand why such problems arise through communication with children and finding out what’s going on with them.

Jackson said she thinks the seminar is going to be worth attending.

“They won’t be disappointed,” she said.

They are requesting that people preregister for the seminar so they will have an idea of how many will attend and will know how many children need free child care provided.

Flyers were sent to all parents in the district with registration forms, but additional forms are available at school attendance centers. People may also register by calling Jackson at 239-3700.