It’s hard to believe, but the school year is only weeks away from wrapping up. Over the next month, sports teams will be completing their spring seasons, seniors will be gearing up to graduate and local schools will be busy with all manner of year-end events, inductions, parties and the like.

The Fountain Hills Coalition recently hosted its final meeting of the school year and won’t be back in session until this fall. At the meeting held April 13, Coalition members were updated on everything from preliminary results of the recent community survey to the progress of on-campus special events and more.

One of the Coalition’s ongoing efforts, however, will be especially important through the next several months as students head off to enjoy their summer vacations, and that’s the Safe Homes Network. In short, this network serves as a database of local parents who have promised to keep their homes drugs and, when it comes to minors, alcohol free.

I’m not a parent. I may tell you that Aria is my daughter but, let’s face it, she’s a cat. Still, my teen years aren’t so far behind me that I don’t remember what it was like for my mother to worry herself to death over my brother and I when we hit the road on a Friday or Saturday night.

If I’m being honest, I wasn’t super great at keeping my parents informed, despite the fact that they were extremely reasonable when it came to our household weekend rules. We had a curfew and, if we were going to be even a minute late, all we had to do was call and let them know. I was bad at the calling part because I was young, dumb and genuinely lost track of time. So if you’re reading this, Mom, sorry about that!

As for everything else, my Pop summed it all up in a single statement. He’d look my brother and I square in the eyes and simply say, “Don’t do anything stupid.”

Nowadays, technology makes it easier than ever for parents and their kids to stay connected. If I had a cell phone in high school…Well, I probably would have still been bad about remembering to call home those times I was going to be late. But at least I wouldn’t have had an excuse anymore!

The Safe Homes Network helps take some of the guess work out of the equation. Once you sign up, you’ve got access to the full network, allowing parents to stay in contact with one another and double check “the facts.”

If your youngster is heading over to John’s place, you can check and see if John’s folks are a part of the Network. If they are, you can probably rest assured that your kid is heading to a safe place. If you need more assurance, though, you can actually contact John’s folks and make sure that, yes, they are allowing John to have a party and, no, there won’t be a keg of beer on the patio.

To learn more about the Safe Homes Network and other Coalition projects, just head over to safehomesfh.org. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find a link to the Safe Homes Network, where parents can sign up to earn a little extra peace of mind.