Parents and students learn about drug and alcohol abuse

Roughly 75 parents and their children attended the recent Let’s Talk About It drug and alcohol awareness program, held at Bay Middle School on April 23. 

After opening comments from Bay Middle School principal Sean McAndrews, the parents and students were separated to receive their own programs. The children joined Dave Mack and Monica Marx from Bay Family Services, Jennifer Tulli from Recovery Resources and Carole Ochs from the Westshore Enforcement Bureau, while parents stayed in the main room for a more in-depth report on trends and levels of teen usage, signs to look for and resources available to parents when drug abuse and addiction hits one’s home. 

Both groups also had the opportunity to hear personal stories from young people, who shared their drug experiences, the consequences of addiction, and their remarkable journey through their recovery.

The event wrapped up with a lively Q&A session, lead by an expert panel consisting of Sean McAndrews, Bay High School principal Jason Martin and assistant principal Aaron Ereditario, Bay Village Juvenile Detective Kevin Krolkowski, Westshore Special Drug Task Force Agent Jeff Capretto and relations coordinator Don Davies from the adolescent residential drug treatment center New Directions. 

The program was well received by many based on feedback that the presenters received. Some shared the new things they learned ("I was surprised by the availability of drugs"), ways to get more parents to attend ("Get the word out on the alarming statistics; make that information more public"), while others said that they would recommend this program to others ("I want the parents of my son's friends to know what to look for!").

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Volume 4, Issue 9, Posted 10:15 AM, 05.01.2012