Parent Leaders Coming Together for Willowdale’s Children

My office recently co-hosted a well-attended community meeting with PIAC (Parent Involvement Advisory Committee) for education Ward 12, bringing together parent council chairs from across Willowdale schools. I am grateful to Nicole Wu and Susan Lee for their leadership of PIAC and for bringing us all together. The discussion was wide-ranging and focused on key issues, including youth mental health, education, community safety, and local services.

Here are some of the themes we touched on:

• The growing concern around youth mental health, including alarming provincial data showing that nearly one in five students in Grades 7–12 have seriously considered suicide in the past year. Parents spoke about the pressures young people are facing today, including the impacts of social media, screen time, and the need for stronger prevention and support systems.

• Substance use messaging for youth, children no longer hear the message “Don’t Do Drugs,” which was of concern to many parents.

• Concerns about slated changes to education, including funding cuts, reduced representation and the long-term impacts.

I shared about some of things I’m working on including:

• The impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the importance of earlier awareness, education, and supports to help children build resilience.

• The often-unseen issue of intimate partner violence, its prevalence in Toronto and the need for greater awareness, education, and access to supports across the community.

• The roll-out of the Student Nutrition Program has been a hit in some schools and a work in progress in others. We have committed to further discussion on this, with the goal of providing meaningful feedback from our neighbourhood schools to Toronto Public Health to help improve future implementation.

• Population growth in North York Centre, infrastructure needs such as schools and community services, and ongoing traffic and school safety concerns, particularly around drop-off and pick-up zones.

I appreciate all the parents who serve their school communities sacrificially to improve school and community life. It is so important that we connect to find ways we can share information and collaborate to improve our community and the future of our children.