© Wyoming Families First
Wyoming Families First
Boys and Girls Schools
WFF in partnership with the WDFS strives to provide
meaningful relationship skills training to students
attending or living at the Wyoming Girls and the
Wyoming Boys Schools.
Project Goals include:
•
Improve students’ relationship knowledge: providing
students skills and techniques to consider delaying
sexual activity; and as a result
•
Reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancies; and
•
Encourage the formation of two-parent families
WFF uses a variety of evidence based curricula with
these students. The program has been well received and
is providing excellent results. As of 3/31/11 more than
500 students have participated in 1 or more training
event, we have reported that:
•
90.4% could name the 4 necessary ingredients for
change;
•
97.2% understood the importance of compatibility
in a relationship;
•
100% (Girls School Only) could name at least 3
consequences of becoming pregnant before ready;
•
100% (Girls School Only) understood that refusal
skills can be both verbal and non-verbal;
•
100% (Girls School Only) expresses understanding
that “unprotected sex” is likely to result in
becoming pregnant; and
•
79.7 % (low) to 100% (high) of Students expressed
Satisfaction (with class experience, instructor, and
materials and resources).
Check back with us as we post more project information
and updates!
WFF participates in many special projects aimed at improving and
strengthening individual and family relationships. Click on the links
below to find out more about our special projects.
Family Night
For nine years,
Wyoming’s First Lady
teamed up with
partners from around
the state to present
Wyoming First Lady’s
Family Night
designed to help families make the most of their time
together.
Whether you’re cooking a gourmet meal or ordering
food from your favorite take-out place, rest assured
that what your kids really want at the dinner table is
YOU! Family meals are the perfect time to talk to your
kids and to listen to what is on their minds. More than
a decade’s worth of research by The National Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia
University has consistently found that the more often
kids eat dinner with their families, the less likely they
are to smoke, drink or use drugs.
How does Wyoming Participate?
Here in Wyoming, we are in our ninth year of statewide
Family Night participation! Wyoming’s First Lady Carol
Mead is teaming up with WHMI Strong Families Strong
Wyoming and other partners from around the state to
get families together! This year’s “Recipes for a
Successful Family” is a 16 page booklet that includes
four different family fun ideas for celebrating Family
Night 2013. The booklet also includes a message from
Wyoming’s First Lady encouraging families to stay
connected; tips for good communication; parent letter
with tips on how to use the booklet and good
conversation strategies; characteristics of strong
families; and much more.
CASA’s 2012 report The Importance of Family Dinners VI
(click here for Casa 2012 Report) found that compared
to teens who have frequent family dinners (five to
seven per week), those who have infrequent family
dinners (fewer than three per week) are:
•
Twice as likely to use tobacco;
•
Nearly twice as likely to use alcohol; and
•
One and a half times likelier to use marijuana.
There is also a connection between the frequency of
family dinners and a teen’s access to drugs.
Compared to teens who have frequent family
dinners, those who have infrequent family dinners
are twice as likely to say they can get marijuana or
prescription drugs (to get high) in an hour or less.
7 Secrets to Successful Family Dinners
1. Start the pattern of family dinners when children
are young
2. Encourage your children to create menu ideas and
participate in meal preparation
3. Turn off the TV and let your answering machine
answer calls during dinnertime
4. Talk about what happened in everyone's day:
school, work, extracurricular activities or current
events
5. Establish a routine to start and end each meal. 6.
Light candles or tell a story After dinner play a board
game or serve dessert to encourage the family to
continue the conversation
7. Keep conversation positive and make sure
everyone gets a chance to speak