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The Kimberly Area School District in Wisconsin is launching a new teen drug use prevention effort aimed at reaching parents. Operation Recommit will consist of a series of films and workshops starting this month and running through the end of the school year. The program is designed to combat teen drug use by building community knowledge of and support for the district's efforts to keep teens away from drugs and alcohol.

Kathy Verstegen, a nurse at Kimberly High School, believes that parental support and knowledge is vital to helping students make healthy decisions regarding the use of alcohol or drugs. She believes that some parents lose sight of how much they're needed as their children grow.

"Anyone can change a diaper," she said. "It really takes a dedicated parent to sit down and talk about these really big issues with their kids."

(Source: www.postcrescent.com)

Labels: alcohol, teen drug use, drug prevention

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According to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia, a family-based prevention program designed to help youth avoid substance abuse was especially effective for youth with genetic predisposition to the behavior. Researchers spent two-and-a-half years monitoring the progress of 11-year-olds participating in a family-centered prevention program called Strong African American Families (SAAF). Some of the youth participating were known to have a fairly common genetic variation which has been linked to impulsivity, low self-control, binge-drinking, and substance abuse.

Researchers found that youth with this variation who participated in SAAF were no more likely than their counterparts to have engaged in high-risk activities such as drinking, marijuana smoking, and sexual activity. Youth with the variation who did not participate in SAAF were more than twice as likely to have engaged in these behaviors.

Lead author of the study, Gene H. Brody, Ph.D., Regents Professor and Director of the Center for Family Research at the University of Georgia, commented on the studys findings: "We found that the prevention program proved especially beneficial for children with a genetic risk factor tied to risky behaviors. ... The results emphasize the important role of parents, caregivers, and family-centered prevention programs in promoting healthy development during adolescence, especially when children have a biological makeup that may pose a challenge."

(Source: www.sciencedaily.com)

Labels: drug prevention, genetics, teen

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Students in Massachusetts will no longer be participating in a 25-year-old drug prevention program, due to recent significant state budget cuts. The New Beginnings Program, which was established in 1985, works to keep kids from making destructive decisions and from becoming addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Program director and founder, Bill Phillips, commented on the struggle to maintain funding for the program: "We haven't lost the energy to try to keep fighting."

The programs usually visit about 300 schools per year and host an annual conference for health workers, teachers, and others who are concerned with healthy childhood development. The program also hosts approximately 40 meetings per year with groups around the state. Approximately 250,000 students have participated in the New Beginnings program over the last two decades.

(Source: www.wickedlocal.com)

Labels: drug prevention, programs, massachusetts

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Three Canadian communities are creating chapters of an innovative program that is designed to help at-risk youth avoid drug use and other criminal behaviors. An article on www.teenchallenge.ca provided the following details:

"The Strengthening Families Program is nationally and internationally recognized as best practice for its success rate with high-risk youth from 14 to 18," says Susan O'Neill, manager of the Saint John Branch of the John Howard Society.

The society is rolling the program out in three locations - Saint John, Tobique First Nation and the rural area outside Campbellton, thanks to funding from the federal Youth Justice Fund, she said. ...

Young people and their families can be referred to the program by probation officers, or they can refer themselves, she said.

"We are targeting the most at-risk children, those who have become quite seriously involved with illicit drugs, and in that case they are usually coming through the justice system," she said.

Labels: drug prevention

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School officials from Washoe County, Nevada managed to capture the attention of a roomful of teenagers with the debut of a documentary titled “The Truth About Prescription Drug Use and Abuse.”

“At the back of the room Thursday, Davy Jones and Cathy Bandoni, whose 15-year-old son, Austin died last year after an accidental methadone overdoes, watched the video, in which they talk about his passions and finding him dead. At one point, Jones and Bandoni left the auditorium in tears.” [Source: Reno Gazette-Journal]

During an interview later, Bandoni said she’s glad the film was done “by kids for kids,” believing it’s likely to have a greater impact. Surveys have shown that prescription drug abuse by teenagers increased from 10.1 percent in 2007 to over 14 percent last year.

 

Labels: prescription drugs, drug prevention, students, schools, awareness

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