EX-STREET YOUTH TELLS HER STORY TO GIVE HOPE TO THOSE IN DESPAIR

Andree Cazabon joined other youth workers speaking to an overflow
crowd last night about how parents can give their children the tools
to make the right choices, reports Spencer Callaghan.

When Andree Cazabon was a street kid, she never dreamed that one day
she would be an honoured guest at a youth forum the day after watching
the national debut of her latest short film.

"I was always into writing, I would even write when I was in group
homes, when I was grounded," said Ms. Cazabon whose latest film, Wards
of the State, debuted Tuesday night on CBC Newsworld.

The former street kid turned filmmaker was a key member of the panel at the
third annual Pamela Fralick Forum on Addiction titled Youth at Risk: What to
do when you don't know what to do.

Ms. Cazabon, along with other youth and substance abuse support
specialists, were at the forum to talk about how to help keep children
safe, off the streets and addiction free.

When Ms. Cazabon was finding her way off of the streets, it was
communication with her parents that way key to her turning her life
around, she said.

"There is no way I would have gotten clean, and stayed clean, if my
parents hadn't been on the journey with me," said Ms. Cazabon.

The keynote speaker for the evening Dr. David Wolfe, Director of the
Canadian Association for Mental Health Centre for Prevention Science,
agrees that open communication between parents and teenagers is the
key and that safety is the message that should be sent.

"The dilemma that parents face is that adolescence is a period of
experimentation, that's what they are supposed to do, but we want to
keep them safe. The old-fashioned simple message of 'just say no' is
ineffective," said Dr. Wolfe.

Preventing youths from experimenting is next to impossible Dr. Wolfe
said, so ensuring they are safe and know the risks is the most
important lesson a parent can teach them.

"It's not so much about if you ever drink or try drugs, it's know what
you are getting into and put it off as long as possible. Make safe
choices," said Dr. Wolfe.

Ms. Cazabon believes many parents try too hard to be a friend to their
children and forget they are supposed to be a parent, making
boundaries unclear.

"At the end of the day, teenagers don't need another friend, that's
what their friends are for. They need their parent to be a parent,"
said Ms. Cazabon.

The message seemed to resonate with the overflow crowd attending the
event at the Travelodge on Carling Avenue -- many of them parents who
had come to learn how to communicate better with their children.

Ms. Cazabon said she hoped her story might help inspire someone who
has lost hope.

"I would like to touch one parent in the audience that was ready to
give up and now they won't give up and I would like to inspire the
whole community that is represented out there to talk about this taboo
issue," said Ms. Cazabon.