Author and speaker Jade Lewis gives advice to Kalgoorlie-Boulder students

Students at schools across Kalgoorlie-Boulder have been given advice on how to stay ahead of issues that could cause them harm.

Author and speaker Jade Lewis visited students at Hannans Primary School on Thursday to discuss internet awareness and how to be safe online.

Ms Lewis has spent the week in Kalgoorlie-Boulder discussing vaping, online safety, mental health, identity, and safe parties, tailoring the advice to each school she visits.

“We know that these problems aren’t generic, and so we don’t have a generic response,” she said.

“We work with the schools and they guide us on where we need to target our message the most.”

She visited local primary and senior schools including Kalgoorlie-Boulder Community High School, Eastern Goldfields College, John Paul College and Hannans Primary School.

The public speaker has spent more than 20 years working in schools across the State and says her work was all about prevention.

“We know that education helps young people to make better decisions in the moment,” she said.

“Where we’ve got big industries seeking to hurt young people, we come in and ask how we can empower them and so that they can make informed choices.”

Ms Lewis heads up the Yellow Ribbon Project for Second Chances, which delivers programs designed to help build safer communities and stronger families.

She said the local schools had responded “amazingly” to the programs.

“That excites me so much, because I think it’s helping them to avoid the downfalls,” she said.

“I try to keep it very interactive and I use my own lived experience . . . it’s not something that’s hypothetical — it’s actually real life.”