Getting in touch with children nowadays seems to be like swimming across a frigid, raging river with a rope in a vain attempt to start building a bridge. Parents are all too often getting rushed over the falls as they place themselves in categories that didn’t seem to run as rampant just a few short decades ago.

There’s the hip and with it parents. Those who dress like their kids, talk like their kids and — instead of acting like role models — attempt to just be one of the guys or girls. While this is fun for the kids, and to some degree the parents, the latter all too often find themselves trying to please instead of trying to parent.

There’s the head in the sand parents. Those who not only don’t have a clue what their kids are doing, but really don’t want to know what their child was doing out past 2 a.m. on a Tuesday.

The list goes on and on. Not that the vast majority of parents aren’t trying to get across the waters and not that most parents aren’t doing their best to raise their children but there are sources that weren’t around a few years ago that have made the river that much swifter. Technology, of course, is adding to the flow and while it “brings the world closer together,” it also serves to widen a gap that has existed between parents and their offspring since time immemorial.

While some parents tow the line just fine, there are many who need help, guidance and information as they dive into the swirling, confusing world that envelops their kids.

Fortunately, there are some world class swimmers available and, yes, even some row boats set aside specifically for the purpose of establishing or reestablishing parent-child lines of communication.

From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Oct. 7, members of the North Kitsap Community Connection will host their second annual Know More Community Forum at North Kitsap High School. The educational session will provide parents, both toiling and not, the rudimentary tools they need to improve their relationships with their kids.

The journey is definitely worth it.