The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

18 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2006 Congratulations 2006 Graduates Good luck in your future endeavours. From the publisher & staff at 2 Main St. N Acton 519-853-4299 Hats Off to all 2006 Grads Acton Mews Plaza, 56D Mill St. East, Acton 519-835-0811 Hair Salon SILVERCREEK SPA & Lots of luck in the future From Monica & Yvette Congratulations ??????? ?? ????? ??????????? ??????????? ????????????????????? ????????????????? ?????????????????????????? ???????? ???????? ?????? ????? ????????? ? ? ? ? ? ? ????? ????????? ???? ???? ?????? ???????????? ?? ????????????????? ?????? ???????? ?? ??? ????? ????? ????? ????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ????? ?????????????? ???????? AT ALL GRADUATES CONGRATULATIONS Distribution Services Ltd. Armstrong Ave. Georgetown By Frances Niblock Local teens want confi- dential information about sexual health and relation- ships. Questions on those two issues were the main topics e-mailed to a mentor- ing program that operated in Acton and Georgetown for the past six months. The e Peer to Peer pro- gram, offered by Halton Hills Community Support and Information (HHC- SI), involved seven trained youth mentors three from Acton under the supervi- sion of a youth worker, who provided information to the questioners. Program co-ordinator Laura Demeester said the program is not a Dear Abby or crisis service, but an in- formation resource service. She said in many cases, teens with questions just want someone to listen to them and know they are not alone. Demeester said between January and May, they had 81 e-mails, and along with the questions about sexual health and relationships, the e-mails also dealt with bul- lying, self-harm, drug and alcohol use. A surprising number of teens e-mailed and said that their younger brother or sister was being bullied and wanted to know what they could do to help, De- meester said. During an eight-week training period the mentors, who were recruited at each high school, learned what information and resources confidential and free are available for youth; they would refer the e-mail to those sources, along with proving some facts, statis- tics or information about the issue. Demeester said the men- tors, who worked off-line on five laptops, were an em- pathetic group who quickly became confident and of- fered the information in a friendly and easy to under- stand manner. The mentors were told that they would be volunteering their time, but at the end of the program each received a $600 honorarium. One mentor, Acton High School Grade 12 student Lauren McIntyre, said she got involved to see if she would like a career dealing with people. I definitely loved it, and am going to Trent (Univer- sity) to study psychology, McIntyre said on Sunday, adding the mentoring pro- gram allowed her to really help people. Im not sure what I want to do, but I know that I want to be working with people and this program gave me a chance to see what it would be like, she said, adding the program showed her there is a full range of programs available for teens in the north of Halton, but many dont know where to go for help. The e Peer to Peer pro- gram was funded for one year with a $50,000 National Crime Prevention grant, and Demeester hopes they can get on-going funding for the fall. Over the summer, a trained youth worker will answer questions e-mailed to p2p@hhcsi.ca Teens help teens by e-mail MENTOR MONEY: Three Acton High School students who volunteered as e-mail men- tors to local teens received unexpected honorariums of $600 each for their work. Program co-ordinator Lauren Demeester (second from left) presented the cheques to Alice Mick, Lauren McIntyre and Breanna Campbell. Frances Niblock photo