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Schools

Drug Forum Educates Parents and Students

Bayport-Blue Point High School principal invites parents and students to a drug forum featuring the managing director of DAYTOP Drug & Alcohol Center.

Principal Dr. Timothy Hearney hosted a drug forum Thursday evening in the school auditorium, educating parents and students about the increased use and abuse of drugs and alcohol in today’s youth.

The forum featured a presentation by Caroline Sullivan, managing director of DAYTOP Drug and Alcohol Center, and members of DAYTOP Parents Educating Parents (DPEP).

According to Sullivan, the average age of children seeking treatment is now 14-years-old. Kids are getting involved with drugs and alcohol younger and younger as the years pass. She said kids do drugs because they like the way it makes them feel and they are more likely to indulge because of their wild behaviors.

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With 23 years experience in the psychology field, Sullivan said adolescents feel and do everything with four times more intensity than adults over the age of 22. “Until they reach 23, kids are brain-damaged,” she joked, smiling from the responses of laughter in the audience. “Their behaviors are wild because their brains have not matured yet.”

In order to keep them away from drugs, Sullivan said it’s important to always keep the line of communication open. She said to make sure you talk to your kids for at least 20 minutes a day and get involved in their lives.

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Sullivan’s presentation was designed to show both sides of a drug-related issue and educate parents on how to deal with it. The presentation revolved around the story of two DPEP members: a mother in denial and a teenage daughter using drugs.*

The mother told her story first, citing that she had been in denial from the beginning. She said that she was convinced the divorce and her ex-husband were the cause of her daughter’s change in behavior. She believed her daughter’s lies about not smoking marijuana. The mother said she made no serious moves until her daughter broke both of her hands punching a wall during a Vicodin trip. She sent her daughter to DAYTOP.

The daughter spoke next, admitting she gave into peer pressure from her older friends around age 11 and began smoking marijuana. “It became a normal thing for me,” she said. “I couldn’t get away from smoking. It was a mental addiction.”

Over a few years, her grades dropped, she was stuck in a horrible relationship and she was extremely depressed. She would lie and manipulate her mother to go smoke and get high. “I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I couldn’t stop it,” she said.

After she broke her hands, she realized she needed help from her mother and was sent to rehab at DAYTOP.

On Feb. 1, she will be clean a year.

Sullivan said the purpose of the presentation was to make sure parents aren’t oblivious to warning signs or deny the problem.

Both Sullivan and Hearney emphasized that it is never too early to start creating a plan for your kids to help them navigate though teenage years. It’s one of the most important things you can do to keep them drug and alcohol free.

Hearney said the high school has many resources to help students with drug and alcohol-related issues including a district social worker and a safe school ambassador program. The Safe School Ambassador program features 90 peer-elected leaders to watch over other students.

 “It’s really to bring a feeling of belonging to the high school,” Hearney said.

After a year of thinking about it, Hearney said he organized the forum because he wanted parents and students to be proactive with their lives. He said the forum is a good way to get parents thinking about ways to communicate with their kids and prevent drug and alcohol abuse.

“If you can walk away from here and it sparks a conversation with your son or daughter, that’s great,” Hearney said. “This is a conversation starter.”

The presentation ended with a list of tips for parents to prevent their children from using drugs and alcohol. Take a look at some of the highlights:

  • Start early and don’t wait until there is a problem.
  • Be aware of your own behavior. As a parent, you are the role model.
  • Communicate with your spouse about your children.
  • Teach children to talk and express their feelings.
  • Trust your gut.
  • Know the warning signs.
  • LISTEN and LEARN, LEARN to LISTEN.
  • Follow through with consequences.

*For confidentiality reasons, the subjects’ names have been concealed.

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