Sex, drugs and alcohol. These are among the youth-oriented issues being discussed in Connecting with Kids workshops, an award-winning program run by Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE).

The extension's workshops address a wide range of topics and challenges that young people face. As part of the university's land-grant mission to disseminate knowledge and better New Yorkers' lives, every month, local experts give presentations on a plethora of challenging issues that educators, school district administrators, day-care providers, CCE employees and others who work with youth must face regularly. The meetings are organized by educators from CCE in Herkimer, Madison and Oneida counties and the Madison County Health Department.

Since 1994, the Connecting with Kids program has covered topics including bullies, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, gangs, grief and helping children deal with divorce and separation, and provides participants with suggestions for handling such sensitive and difficult situations and issues. Last year alone, 450 youth workers attended Connecting with Kids workshops and used the messages to inform their work with some 40,000 children.

"The program continues to provide youth workers with up-to-date, valuable connections and information about young people so they can do their jobs better," said Terri Lanterman, Madison County CCE Community Educator in 4-H Youth Development and one of the team members who received the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents Excellence in Teamwork Award in Seattle on Nov. 2 for their work with Connecting with Kids.

A recent workshop with Tina Dombrowski, a health educator with the Madison County health department and another of the program's team members, explored risky aspects of youth culture, including sex, drugs and alcohol. Along with Dombrowski, a panel of two teenagers answered questions from the audience. Youth who are sexually active do not find oral sex to be a big deal, Dombrowski and the teens said. One of the teen panelists commented that he would not consider oral sex the same as losing his virginity.

But Dombrowski gave a warning: "That's a concern that any adult who works with children would have, because you can get diseases through oral sex and it is a very intimate activity."

Similarly, Dombrowski said, teens have regular and easy access to drugs and alcohol, and they do not view drugs like marijuana and ecstasy (MDMA) as being harmful or having long-term effects. "Marijuana use kills brain cells, and it's a gateway drug that sets you up for possible addiction to other drugs or alcohol," she said. She advised the adult audience to get to know children they work with and interact with them in ways that go beyond routine conversations. She advocated watching for behaviors that indicate signs of drug use, like dropping out of social groups and extracurricular activities like sports, and missing classes. Adults should be prepared to ask teens if they are experiencing problems or if they are using drugs, she added.

In another workshop, Brad Bennett, a psychologist at Clinton Therapy and Testing Center in Clinton, N.Y., discussed the psychology of bullying and strategies for handling it. For 10 years, Bennett has given Connecting with Kids workshops on topics ranging from tips for handling children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to how to foster better communication between adults and children. For bullies, Bennett said, a comprehensive strategy is needed where everyone -- students, teachers, administrators and even the community -- gets involved. Bullying is based on a child having power and feeling rewarded when he or she exerts that power and others give in, she noted.

"The bully has an effective weapon that is gratifying to him or her, and getting him to stop using that weapon is really the biggest challenge," said Bennett. But programs that include consequences for bullying and learning prosocial skills can be very successful if everyone works together.

The Connecting with Kids team also includes Jennifer Collins of CCE-Herkimer County and Chris Weber-Mangini of CCE-Oneida County. The workshops are funded by a grant from the Slocum-Dickson Foundation.

This is just one of many such programs run through CCE to carry out the university's land-grant mission to transfer knowledge from the university to the community and to open a dialogue between Cornell and people outside the campus. Although four Cornell colleges operate as contract colleges through the state, all of Cornell is New York's land-grant university.