Greetings from the “greatest Lions Club in the world,” the Conroe Noon Lions Club. We had another great Lions club meeting this past Wednesday.
As usual we started off with our pledges and prayer, followed by our favorite ‘Smile’ song. Lucky Lion Ricky Morton won our weekly door prize, a gift card donated by Mark Jefferson. President Jason Miller thanked our Community Partner of the Week, AAAA Bail Bonds for their support. Numerous announcements were made for upcoming club activities. Lion Helen Thornton talked about handing out treats to children with perfect attendance and no tardies at our adopted school, Reaves Elementary.
Lion Connie Engle reminded everyone about the Vision Screening Programs, plus a Trunk or Treat, Halloween event happening Oct. 28 at VFW post 4709. Our 2nd Vice President Tracy Irvine talked about our upcoming Service Saturday project on Sat., Oct. 21st at Yes to Youth, the Bridgeway Home. Next, 1st Vice President Bryan Rennell talked about the recent Clay Shoot which had 122 teams participate. He thanked Chairman Bobby Finley and the committee for a putting together a successful event. There were two courses, the Gold Course which was won by Cashner Funeral Home and the Silver Course won by Woodforest Bank. As you can see we Lions stay very busy. Before our guest speaker was introduced, Lion Stan Johnson got his blue badge. An individual receives a blue badge when they become a full-fledged Lion.
Past president Warner Phelps introduced our guest speaker Gayle Cheatham of Cambelyn Coaching, who also brought with her Licensed Therapist Tessa Stuckey. They presented a tag-teamed presentation on social media and the impact on children and young adults. Together they began Lookup, a nonprofit program to address the issue in our area. They stated the teen suicide rate is up 57%. Other issues being addressed include bullying and young children being exposed to sexual content, and kids constantly using their phones which leads to loneliness while missing eye-to-eye contact.
Gayle also said a teenager should get 10 to 12 hours of sleep and most are only getting 4 to 6 hours. Predators use tricks to get kids to send pictures of themselves. The predators then blackmail families to send money so the pictures will not go public. Another issue is young adults are becoming medical hypochondriacs due to the fact that they Google everything when they don’t feel well.
What can we do to stop or slow down these issues? They suggest limited internet access, don’t allow cell phones in the bedroom or at the dinner table, talk to your kids more often, and limit the time they communicate by phone. Stuckey believes children should not be given phones before 16 years of age. If a phone is given to a child and you don’t like how the child is using the phone it’s ok to let the child know you made a mistake giving them a phone. She stated that there are lots of apps to help you limit what your kids can see. Overall, it was a very good presentation if you want more information go to, https://lookupnonprofit.com.
As you can see, we had a very fun and interesting meeting. I want to wrap up by saying one of the many benefits of becoming a Conroe Noon Lion is the many friendships you form. Lions take care of each other. For example, due to illness I was out for a couple of months. I received many calls from fellow Lions checking up on me. It always made my day to hear from my fellow Lions.
If you are interested in joining the Lions, please visit our website, www.conroenoonlions.org, or call the local club office at 936-760-1666.
