THE GAZETTE
Page A-6
Wednesday, October 9, 2013 g
Message from drug prevention forum: More parents need to listen n
Starr: ‘We must confront these problems ... and create solutions’
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
An alcohol and drug abuse prevention forum held Monday at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville brought school, police and government officials together to present to parents and others topics including heroin use, drug effects on young brains and parent involvement. However, some parents who attended expressed disappointment they were not part of a larger audience.
“There aren’t as many people in this room as we’d like,” Superintendent Joshua P. Starr said. About 100 people attended the forum, said Dana Tofig, a school system spokesman. Montgomery County Public Schools worked with county police and local nonprofit groups to host the forum. There also was a resource fair with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Nar-Anon Family Groups and area treatment centers, among others. In addition to the school system and police, the event’s organizers included the Montgomery County Collaboration Council, the Montgomery
County Alliance to Prevent Youth Substance Abuse and the Brave and Bold coalition. The forum intended for a countywide audience took place a few weeks after a similar forum was held at Wootton High School specifically for that school’s community. Starr, a forum speaker, emphasized the focus on social emotional well-being in the school system’s new framework. This includes a goal to help students decide to turn away from drugs and alcohol, he said. “I always want us to think about the fact that we must confront these problems and these issues, and create solutions with each other and with our kids,” he said.
Starr said students should know they’re valued and should be watched carefully for signs something is wrong. “We have to know every single child in front of us,” Starr said. James Bjork — a researcher who has studied teenagers’ brains and a parent of county school system students — said he found that adolescent brains, are still undergoing development and “don’t process risk enough.” On average, he said, young brains also make no distinction between earning a reward that is guaranteed and earning a reward at a risk. Sgt. Keith Matthis of Montgomery County Police’s drug enforcement section said he
has seen a decrease in the use of prescription opioid drugs and an increase in the use of heroin. Potential explanations for the trends, he said, are that health care authorities are tightening regulations for opioid prescriptions, and heroin is more accessible and cheaper. The rise of heroin use is a local and a national trend, Matthis said. Matthis recommended that parents check their children’s belongings, including their phone, car and rooms for signs of substance abuse. “If you don’t check ’em, we will,” he said. Ursula Hermann, director of the school system’s Department of Student Services, shared her
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“There aren’t as many people in this room as we’d like.” Joshua P. Starr, schools superintendent experience as a parent who set up many rules to stay informed about her teenagers’ friends and activities. Hermann said it can be a daunting task for parents to talk to their children. “You bet it is, but that’s part of our job as parents,” she said. During a question-and-answer component of the forum, one parent asked how to react to a conversation she heard between her son and his friends, who were talking about people they knew who were involved in drugs. “What do I do with that information?” she asked. Matthis told her she could turn to police, while Starr responded with the option of reaching out to the school’s principal. Lisa Essich and her daughter Lea Edgecomb, 20, also attended the event. Edgecomb overdosed on heroin when she was a 15-year-old county student and now must use a wheelchair. She and her mom have visited several county schools to share her story. Addressing the forum speakers, Essich asked how the school system might help spread the message to more students through programs, such as her daughter’s talks. Some parents asked the school system to consider organizing similar sessions at individual schools and how to gather more people in the future. “The next step,” one parent said, is figuring out “how to get the audience full.” lpowers@gazette.net
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