Healthy Schools-Healthy Kids will host a parent forum on abstinence at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3 at Brundidge Station.

Healthy Schools-Healthy Kids is a rural health outreach program of Charles Henderson Child Health Center

(CHCHC) assisted by the Abstinence in Motion (AIM) program of Edge Regional Medical Center (ERMC).

Healthy Schools-Health Kids and AIM work together on different health issues with the same goals, said Ajoa Grubbs, outreach coordinator for Health Schools-Healthy Kids. "Healthy Schools-Healthy Kids recognizes six health-risk behaviors - sexual activity that leads to sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, alcohol use, drug use, tobacco use, poor nutrition and lack of physical exercise."

AIM focuses on the risk of sexual activity behavior.

"The parent forum is a change for us to pool our resources and expertise for the benefit of parents who what to know how to talk to their children about the subject s of sex and abstinence," Grubbs said. "Parents with students in the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth grades will have an opportunity to become familiar with the AIM project. These students are participating in a curriculum, 'Choosing the Best' and parents will learn more about it and get to meet some of those who are involved in implement the AIM project.

Stephanie Flowers, an instructor with the AIM project, and Terry Watkins, project director for Health School-Healthy Kids and AIM, will speak at the forum along with others with expertise about the abstinence program.

"When parents talk to their children about sexual behavior, they need to have the right information available to them," Grubbs said. "The forum will provide much of the information about the benefits of abstinence and the consequences of risky behavior. The forum will also show parents how to interpret statistical information about sexual behavior issues."

A focus of the forum will be what people, who deal will abstinence, STDs and pregnancy on a day-to-day basis, have to say.

"We usually discuss all six at-risk behaviors at our forums but abstinence is so important and such an big issue that we want to focus on it," Grubbs said. "We want parents to be able to talk to their children about abstinence and then have facts and figures to show that abstinence is the sexual behavior with no risks involved.

Grubbs said the Feb. 3 parents' forum is the first to be held in Brundidge and would like to encourage parents of children of all ages to attend.

"This forum will greatly benefit all of those who attend," she said. "It's being held in Brundidge but it's for parents throughout the county.

Healthy Schools-Health Kids is a grant program through Charles Henderson Child Health Center with in-kind services provided by ERMC.

AIM is a grant program of ERMC and receives in-kind services from