LISD Red Ribbon Campaign 2019
LISD Guidance and Counseling
Why are our students vulnerable to drugs and alcohol?
With the increasing demands put on teens today, they are especially vulnerable to the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Some of the demands our students face are:
- to achieve academically
- to get into a "good" college
- to be "well-rounded"
- to be beautiful/handsome
- to be popular
- to find their passion
How can I help prevent drug abuse in my student?
Families often ask how they can hep their student lead happy and productive lives. They are concerned that their student might be at risk for abusing drugs and alcohol. The following questions can help provide a guide for families. Each question contains a link to a video to watch positive and negative examples of the skill.
- Are you able to communicate calmly and clearly with your student regarding relationship problems?
- Do you encourage positive behaviors in your teenager on a daily basis?
- Are you able to negotiate emotional conflicts with your teenager and work toward a solution?
- Are you able to calmly set limits when your teenager is defiant or disrespectful? Are you able to set limits on more serious problem behavior such as drug use, if or when it occurs?
- Do you monitor your teenager to assure that he or she does not spend too much unsupervised time with peers?
Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse - Family Skills
Where can I get information about the latest drug trends?
The above link can provide families with the latest information about drugs - pictures of what they look like and how they affect your body.
Prescription Drug Use
The fastest-growing drug problem in the United States isn’t cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamines. It is prescription drugs, and it is profoundly affecting the lives of teenagers.
According to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) DrugFacts, prescription drug misuse and abuse is when someone takes a medication inappropriately (for example, without a prescription). Sadly, prescription drug misuse and abuse among young people is not an insignificant problem. According to National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data on youth and young adults, more than 5,700 youth in 2014 reported using prescription pain relievers without a doctor’s guidance for the first time.
A common misperception is that prescription drugs are safer or less harmful to one’s body than other kinds of drugs. However, there is a range of short- and long-term health consequences for each type of prescription drug used inappropriately:
Stimulants have side effects in common with cocaine, and may include paranoia, dangerously high body temperatures, and an irregular heartbeat, especially if stimulants are taken in large doses or in ways other than swallowing a pill.
Opioids, which act on the same parts of the brain as heroin, can cause drowsiness, nausea, constipation, and, depending on the amount taken, slowed breathing.
Depressants can cause slurred speech, shallow breathing, fatigue, disorientation, lack of coordination, and seizures upon withdrawal from chronic use.
Prescription Drug Use
These impacts can be particularly harmful to a developing adolescent brain and body. Our brains continue to develop until we reach our early- to mid-twenties. During adolescence, the pre-frontal cortex further develops to enable us to set priorities, formulate strategies, allocate attention, and control impulses. The outer mantle of the brain also experiences a burst of development, helping us to become more sophisticated at processing abstract information and understanding rules, laws, and codes of social conduct. Drug use impacts perception—a skill adolescent brains are actively trying to cultivate—and can fracture developing neural pathways. Additionally, as our brains are becoming hardwired during adolescence, the pathways being reinforced are the ones that stick. If those pathways include addiction, the impact may lead to life-long challenges.
As with any type of mind-altering drug, prescription drug misuse and abuse can affect judgment and inhibition, putting adolescents at heightened risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, misusing other kinds of drugs, and engaging in additional risky behaviors.
Medication Disposal Day (MDD) is an opportunity for LISD/CHOICES to coordinate drop off sites in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) “National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.”
As per the DEA website “The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day medications aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse and medications”
LISD Medication Disposal Day
For more information see below: