Free Community Event Dr. Chap Clark, authority on teens returns to the Sammamish Plateau for workshop on January 23 at 7-9 p.m. in the Eastlake High School Theatre

National best-selling author and authority on teens, Chap Clark, Ph.D. will offer a free workshop for parents in Sammamish on Thursday, January 23 about why today’s adolescents hurt. He’ll also provide practical advice and tips. 

According to Clark, today's adolescents have largely been abandoned by adults and left to fend for themselves in an uncertain world.  As a result, teens have created their own world to serve as a shield against uncaring adults.

Based on six months of participant-observer research at a California public school, Clark published his research and observations in Hurt and Hurt 2.0: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers. The book offers a somewhat troubling but insightful snapshot of adolescent life. 

“When I was able to get close enough, to be trusted, to get a glimpse of life in this world, I did not hear a few voices crying out. I heard an overwhelming chorus of longing to be cared for and taken seriously…Even the most solid students confessed that life is far darker, far more violent, far more difficult, and far more tiring than adults, including their parents, realize,” writes Clark.

Clark, a well known speaker and writer, as well as a consultant, cultural and media analyst, and adolescent and family advocate, will give a free community workshop for parents, “Hurt 2.0:  A Toolbox for Parents" on Thursday, January 23 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Eastlake High School, 400 228th Ave NE, Sammamish.

This will be Dr. Clark’s second visit to the Sammamish Plateau. Last June, Clark spoke to more than 500 parents. Last week another authority on teens, Dr. Madeline Levine, spoke at Skyline High School.

In Thursday’s seminar, Dr. Clark will give practical advice and tips on 

How to build in children a strong voice and sense of self: 

- How to build an identity that is strong, capable, passionate and gifted

- How to use parenting as a testing ground so students can explore and identify who they are while they are still at home

- How to create boundaries and consequences

- How to practically incorporate technology into family life in a way that is healthy for all

The seminar is sponsored by Sammamish area PTSAs in the Lake Washington and Issaquah School Districts and several local churches and Rotary Club of Sammamish.

The video from last June’s seminar, “Hurt,”is available to view through January 23 at https://vimeo.com/84442423.