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Schools

Middle School PTA Discusses Teen Drug, Alcohol Use

School district social worker offers tips on how to deal with issues related to these challenging topics.

Bayport-Blue Point school district social worker Laurel Hoffman educated the PTA about parenting resilient children and strategies to promote healthy lifestyles on Thursday evening, advocating that positive home and community environments are key to resiliency.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, the use of alcohol and drugs among teenagers increased this year. Hoffman said an estimated 3.3 million teenagers are alcoholics and teaching parents about resiliency might help decrease illicit activity in Bayport-Blue Point.

Hoffman has been a social worker for the middle school and high school for about five years. She said that although Bayport is definitely not the worst district on Long Island in terms of adolescent drug and alcohol consumption, she said it is a unique area.

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"I would say it's about 60/40," Hoffman said. "About 60 percent of students in the middle school and high school have experimented with alcohol or drugs."

In terms of psychology, resiliency means the ability to cope and recover from catastrophic social or physical events. Hoffman said teaching children to become more resilient should prevent them from harming themselves by participating in dangerous, illegal or unhealthy activities.

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Hoffman said, "A resilient child will speak with a sense of optimism." They also know how to love and what it feels like to receive unconditional love from family and friends. They are able to set limits and know when to stop before there is trouble. Resilient children are able to understand how their behavior makes someone else feel, she added.

Positive home and community environments are the most important factors in teaching a child to become more resilient, she noted.

Hoffman said developing family rituals like having large Sunday dinners or a family game night will make children feel secure. She said studies show children who regularly spend time with their families are less likely to develop alcoholic or drug dependencies.

There are some red flags parents should look for if they are concerned their child is participating in harmful activities. Some include: marked personality changes, lack of honoring promises or commitments, decline in school grades, money missing, increased suspiciousness or aggressiveness and change in friends.

It also is important to make sure parents model good behavior for their children. "Children learn what they live," Hoffman said. "We all need adult time, but we should do it away from the kids."

PTA members agreed and acknowledged that Bayport has certain traditions, such as the St. Patrick's Day Parade, Oktoberfest and Halloween, where getting drunk in public is the social norm. PTA President Mary Bailey said, "There's always some sort of party."

One member said she saw parents on Halloween holding red cups and carting beer in a red wagon while trick-or-treating with their children. Middle school art teacher and PTA member Karen McGinley said she witnessed similar situations.

Members said the community should regulate these types of events to keep children from modeling inappropriate behavior. "We need to understand what message we're sending to kids," Hoffman said.

Hoffman suggested the PTA organize a community coalition to revise such public activities.

The James Wilson Young Middle School PTA will next meet on Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m.

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