To The Editors:

During a week that saw the Dalai Lama at Jadwin Gym, a Sea of Blue at Princeton High School, parades at the elementary schools, and runners out in force for the Princeton Half Marathon; the smallest gathering of the week may have been the “Wellness Works Forum on Drugs and Alcohol” that took place at the JW Middle School.

There were about 40 of us there, listening to a panel that included representatives of Corner House, Princeton High School staff, the Princeton Police Department. So just to share a few highlights — the conversation included the prevalence of marijuana (including marijuana candy, which contains dangerous levels of THC); the long-term risks associated with early onset of substance use (and it does keep getting earlier), and the omnipresence of stress and sleep deprivation amongst our children.

These are real issues that as parents, we need to be talking about. I’d say we need to be talking about our priorities around health and well-being, and our views on social expectations, more than test scores, or college applications. We need to be paying attention to how connected and meaningful our children’s lives feel. Are we modeling balance? Are we talking to each other to make sure that what happens in our homes over the weekend is safe? Are we drawing the lines in the right places for our kids’ physical and emotional health? Why do they have so much homework anyway? Do we really have to accept athletic commitments during school vacations? We need more than forty people to engage in these kinds of conversations, out loud, in public, and together.

We DO have a really excellent community. We have so many great resources in our schools, teachers who deserve support and respect; community groups like HiTOPS and Corner House, the Y, and 101; our police department, including officers who grew up here and care deeply about our children; and kids and parents with so much potential for real excellence (so much more than test scores).

As the facilitator for “Princeton Balance,” (a Facebook conversation about excellence and balance), I know there are hundreds of parents in our Princeton who care deeply about the well-being of all of our kids. I urge you all to attend the remaining three sessions of Wellness Works, convened by our superintendent, Steve Cochrane. These important evenings are Nov. 12 (Diversity and Differences), Nov. 19 (Nutrition and Fitness), and Dec. 3 (Stress, Balance and Success). Please mark your calendars and come out to talk and listen. I’m hoping with greater participation of parents who care about these issues, our children’s lives will be better in ways that won’t just show up in test scores, we will see it on their faces.

Jess Deutsch

Riverside Drive