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News of Hope email. |
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March
2011 'News of
Hope'
As winter storms
give way to
warmer
temperatures (we
hope!), the urge
to renew and
transform is
once again
awakened in us.
As an avid
gardener and
butterfly
enthusiast, I
eagerly watch
for the new
budding of
plants and trees
and the return
of my Monarch
butterflies to
lay eggs on my
milkweed plants.
In turn, I look
hopefully at the
current
generation of
teens and watch
them sprout new
interests and
cultivate their
abilities. It is
glorious to see
a teen find the
prizes in their
cracker-jack-box
of life!
Of course, it is
our goal to stay
vigilant in
helping teens
and families
traverse the
adolescent years
and avoid the
pitfalls. This
month we have
some alerts,
guidance and
reminders to
support parents,
teachers,
counselors, and
teens
themselves.
MARCH
NEWSLETTER
CONTENT
• What to Do
When Your Teen
Falls in with
the Wrong Crowd
• What
Protects Teens
from Engaging in
Self-Injury?
• Prescription
Drug Overdoses
and Binge
Drinking Vary by
Race, Income
• What about
RURAL TEENS?
More Likely to
Abuse
Prescription
Drugs
Pictures Above:
Some of the
warmest people
live in the
coldest of
countries! Susie
visited
Lloydminster,
Alberta, Canada
in February
brrrrrrrrrrr at
17 below! But
the teens and
adults couldn''t
have been more
welcoming :)
Pic 1-3: Holy
Rosary High
School - Susie
presented an
assembly for 900
students Grades
7 thru 12 and
stayed the day
to meet with the
SADD Club in Pic
1, be greeted by
the school
mascot in Pic 2,
and work with
excellent
administrators
and teens in
support of Be
the Change.
Pic 4: Susie
with several
members of the
Lloydminster
Drug Strategy
Committee who
coordinated her
visit and pulled
off an amazing
evening parent
program with 200
in attendance!
They
accomplished
their goal to
create awareness
and interest in
the community
and promote
their mission:
Be Aware, Take
Care, Take |
INDEX
to past newsletters... |
|
| FREE
Subscription to
GRAND Magazine!
 Here
is a link that
you and your
friends, family
and associates
can click on to
receive a free
subscription to
the premiere
online magazine
for
grandparents!
LEGACY is
honored to have
had several
articles
published in
GRAND Magazine
to help
grandparents
support their
grand teens and
help them be
alcohol and
drug-free.
Get
your FREE
subscription
here! Pass it on
to others!
|
What
to Do When Your
Teen Falls in
with the Wrong
Crowd
Sue Scheff,
Author and
Parent Advocate,
had this to day
in her
www.examiner.com/parenting-teens-in-fort-lauderdale
column:
The
transition from
junior high into
high school is a
big one for your
teen, and it
often leads to
significant
changes in your
teen's circle of
friends. The
friends that
you're used to
your teen
hanging around
may drift away
as they get
involved with
different things
in high school,
and your teen
may connect with
another group
entirely--a
group that you
believe is
influencing your
teen in a
negative way.
She sugggests
the falling
steps, "If
you think your
teen has fallen
in with the
wrong
crowd":
• Talk to
Your Teen
If you've been
on autopilot for
a while with
your teen and
the lines of
communication
are a little
dusty, spending
more time with
your teen is
often in order.
She further
encourages that
you communicate
without
criticizing,
berating,
scolding.
Instead, Scheff
suggest:
Make sure you
discuss the
specific types
of behavior they
exhibit that
you're unhappy
with, rather
than vague,
sweeping
criticisms.
Doing this
lessens the
chances of your
teen thinking
you just blindly
hate their
friends for no
reason.
Next, Scheff
recommends you
• Invite the
Friends over
They may not be
as bad as you
suspect! Have
pizza and games,
spend a little
time getting to
know them. Your
teen will
respect your
judgement better
when you
actually DO know
their friends!
Scheff also
recommends:
• Get to Know
Their Friends'
Parents
If your child is
getting into
trouble with a
group of
friends, chances
are there are a
couple other
parents out
there who aren't
happy about it
either. Get in
touch with the
parents of your
teen's friends
and discuss what
you can do to
counter what's
happening when
your teens get
together.
Lastly, Scheff
suggests:
• Find
Positive Mentors
She rightly
recommends
finding a
younger person -
perhaps an older
sibling, cousin
or someone
admired and
looked-up-to in
their 20's.
"If your
teen won't
listen to your
warnings about
their friends,
perhaps they
will listen to
someone who's
been in their
shoes more
recently",
says Scheff.
Most
importantly,
don't do nothing
and wait until
something
serious happens.
Be an involved
parent - with
patience and
listening versus
nagging,
scolding and
complaining.
Read
the entire
article here. |
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|
| What
Protects
Teens
from
Engaging
in
Self-Injury?
 Some
of the
most
effective
programs
for
helping
teens
deal
with the
social
and
emotional
concerns
of their
lives
that I
have
observed
over 20
years of
touring
to
middle
schools
and high
schools
are PEER
PROGRAMS.
Peer
Programs
may be
an
actual
class
within
the
school
curriculum
or a
volunteer
organization
that
students
participate
in
during
lunch
and/or
after
school.
Regardless,
peer
assistants/peer
helpers/peer
educators
as the
students
may be
called
have a
positive
track
record
of being
helpful
to peers
on a
wide
variety
of
personal
concerns
- from
dating
and
friendship
conflicts
to
alcohol
and drug
abuse,
STD''s,
self-harm
and
more.
Peer
helpers
are NOT
counselors,
but they
are
trained
in
listening
and
conflict
management
skills
as well
as learn
about a
issues
that
impact
their
teen
peers''
lives.
They
provide
a
trusted
and safe
initial
contact
for
peers
and a
place to
find
referrals
to
additional
help.
Peer
Programs
also
have a
dramatic
positive
impact
on the
student
peer
helpers.
They
find
themselves
able to
make a
difference
in the
lives of
their
peers
and in
the
atmosphere
of trust
and
problem
resolution
on their
school
campuses.
The
National
Association
of Peer
Program
Professionals
trains
counselors
and
advisors
in
running
Peer
Programs
and they
provide
information
to help
Peer
Programs
be
effective.
In their
most
recent
newsletter,
they had
this to
say
about
SELF-INJURY:
March
1 was
International
Self-Injury
Awareness
Day, and
now is a
good
time to
start
the
dialogue
in your
school/community
about
the
signs
and
symptoms
of
self-injury
and to
educate
students
and
staff
about a
wide
range of
healthy
adaptive
coping
skills.
A recent
article
in the
Huffington
Post
highlighted
a
disturbing
trend in
the
number
of
self-injury
videos
on
YouTube.
The
article
pointed
to a
recent
study of
some
5,000
different
YouTube
videos
about
self-injury,
indicating
that the
haunting
music
and rich
imagery
may
attract
young
self-injurers
and
trigger
this
behavior.
Read
the
complete
Huffington
Post
article
on
Self-Injury
and
Youtube
|
| LEGACY
OF HOPE®
- break
through
denial,
create
awareness,
spawn
HOPE!
 Recent
feedback
from a
rural
school:
"The
(Survey
of Hope)
surveys
(administered
after
the
LEGACY
OF HOPE®
assembly)
identified
some
issues -
the kids
were
candid
and
spoke
their
feelings,
and they
were
able to
save a
child
who was
contemplating
suicide!
Just
wanted
to let
you know
what
your
coming
here did
for the
kids.
"
This is
no
ordinary
message
- it is
a
life-saving,
life-changing
message.
Awesome
School
Assembly
- Grades
6 thru
12.
Motivating
Counselor
or
Teacher
Staff
Development/In-Service
Educating
Parent
Awareness/Community
Ed
Program
Captivating
Conference
Keynote
- for
teens
and
adults
who
work/care
about
youth
Contact
us at LEGACY
OF HOPE®
to
help...
|
|
|
Prescription
Drug Overdoses
and Binge
Drinking Vary by
Race, Income
The CDC (Center
for Disease
Control)
released
interesting
research results
in January, 2011
that were then
shared by Join
Together on
January 20, 2011
on who is doing
what:
Research
Summary
In a
first-of-its-kind
report, the
Centers for
Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC)
broke down data
on health
disparities by
race, ethnicity,
income, and
education, The
New York Times
reported Jan.
13.
The report
included data on
the impact of
alcohol and drug
use on different
segments of the
United States
population.
For example,
more Americans
now die from
prescription
drug overdoses
than from
illicit drugs.
In particular,
White,
non-Hispanic
deaths from
prescription
drug overdoses
outnumber those
of
African-Americans.
The Times said
that the
"trend
switched in
2002, after
doctors began
prescribing more
powerful
painkillers,
antidepressants
and
antipsychotics -
more easily
obtained by
people with
health
insurance."
Many of the
health
disparities,
like obesity or
tobacco use,
worsened for
individuals with
low incomes, or
who lacked
education or
insurance.
One exception
was binge
drinking, which
is on the rise.
Unlike many
other health
disparities, the
problem --
consuming four
drinks at a
sitting for
women, and five
for men -- is
more common
among those with
higher incomes
and better
education.
Low-income
individuals,
however, consume
more alcohol
when they binge,
Native Americans
especially.
The full report,
CDC Health
Disparities and
Inequalities
Report - United
States, 2011,
was published
Jan. 14, 2011 in
the Morbidity
and Mortality
Weekly Report,
Supplement /
Volume 60.
This article
summarizes an
external report
or press release
on research
published in a
scientific
journal. When
available, links
to the sources
are provided
above.
The
full CDC pdf
article here. |
What
about RURAL
TEENS? More
Likely to Abuse
Prescription
Drugs
Join Together
released the
following on
November 16,
2010:
Research
Summary
A study of
national data
suggests that
teens in rural
areas abuse
prescription
drugs at
significantly
higher rates
than their urban
and suburban
counterparts,
MedPage Today
reported Nov. 1.
Researchers led
by Jennifer
Havens, Ph.D.,
of the
University of
Kentucky in
Lexington, Ky.,
analyzed
self-report data
on 17,872 teens
aged 12-17,
collected in the
2008 National
Survey on Drug
Use and Health.
They reported
that teens in
rural areas were
26 percent more
likely than
urban
adolescents to
have abused
prescription
drugs at some
point in their
lives:
10.3 percent of
urban teens
reported
lifetime misuse
of prescription
drugs, compared
with 11.5
percent in
suburban or
small
metropolitan-
area counties,
and 13.0 percent
of rural teens.
The study’s
authors noted
several
strategies for
reducing youth
misuse of
prescription
drugs:
* keeping youth
in school,
* increasing
parental
involvement, and
* linking youth
to mental
health, general
health, and
substance abuse
treatment.
Rural youth who
used
prescription
drugs
non-medically
were more likely
to have dropped
out of school,
have a history
of depression,
or live in a
single-parent
household.
"While we
were able to
identify
potential
targets for
intervention
such as
increased access
to health,
mental health,
and substance
abuse treatment,
this may be
difficult for
rural areas
where such
resources are in
short supply or
nonexistent,"
wrote Havens and
her colleagues.
No significant
differences were
found between
the rural,
urban, and
suburban groups
in their use of
alcohol or
illicit drugs;
perhaps
surprisingly,
methamphetamine
was among the
least popular of
drugs.
While 40 percent
of all teens had
drunk alcohol,
10 percent had
abused
prescription
drugs or tried
inhalants, and 4
percent had
tried
hallucinogens,
only 1 percent
reported using
meth.
Full
study at
Archives of
Pediatrics and
Adolescent
Medicine |
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