USM Hosts Education to Prevent Substance Misuse

University School of Milwaukee hosted Lee Bergeron, LMSW, from Soundcheck Prevention Network, for parent and student education events about substance misuse prevention. Bergeron visited USM on Monday, Nov. 11 and hosted a variety of discussions for parents, 6th through 12th grade students, and faculty and staff.

The messaging at each workshop was tailored to the audience. For parents, Bergeron centered on strategies parents can employ to support healthy choices in adolescents, and discussed the changing landscape of teen substance abuse. 

Some of the key takeaways for parents:

Use trends:

• The two biggest protective factors that reduce substance misuse among adolescents are family engagement and school connectedness. Teens who have healthy and communicative relationships at home and at school have a foundation to make better choices.
• The landscape of substances available to and being marketed to adolescents is always changing; when having conversations with children, focus on decision-making and values frameworks, rather than on specific products.
• Teen substance misuse is not an inevitability; alcohol and nicotine use have both declined significantly and steadily since the '90s. Make your expectations and values clear to your children, and avoid sending the message that you expect your teen to experiment or use substances.
• Adolescent use of various substances changes over time and is influenced by marketing, laws, public health campaigns, and perceived social acceptability, among other factors. While smoking, for instance, is no longer common among teens—due in large part to aggressive information campaigns—cannabis use has increased recently, due in large part to its legalization and perceived social acceptability (which adolescents also interpret as safety).
• While there is a perception among many teens that cannabis is a safe drug, there are significant risks that are worth discussing with your child:
  • Cannabis is much more potent now than it was decades ago.
  • There is a correlation between regular cannabis use and psychotic disorders.
  • There is a correlation between regular cannabis use and impaired motivation.
  • Cannabis can impair driving in the same way alcohol can.

On talking with your children:

• It’s never too early to start preventing substance misuse. For young children, this is social-emotional learning: how to make difficult decisions, how to ask for help, and knowing when to tell an adult if they are worried about something. As kids get older, incorporate conversation around healthy ways of managing stress, peer pressure, and begin to talk explicitly about substances and your family rules.
• Kids respond well to clear communication from parents, consistent boundaries and consequences, and compassion and support. Provide the “why” behind rules (ex: “We want you to have a safe and healthy high school experience, and we want you to have every opportunity to achieve your dreams and hopes. That’s why our rule is that you don’t use alcohol or cannabis as a teen.”). Don’t threaten consequences you are not prepared to enforce. If children don’t stay within your boundaries, issue a consequence and make sure they know that you love and support them (ex: “We are committed to keeping you safe and healthy, so we are going to have to set additional boundaries. You can come to us if you need support.”).
• If you have a parenting partner, make sure you are aligned in your messaging.
• Healthy decision-making takes practice. If your child is attending an event or party where you worry they might be offered a substance, encourage them to practice their response. While some students are confident in responding with a simple “no,” others, even those who are clear that they don’t want to use substances, still benefit from practice and might find it helpful to have an “out” they can share to save face, such as “No thanks, I have a big game tomorrow” or “I can’t; my parents would kill me!”

On parental behavior:

• For more socially accepted substances like alcohol, think carefully about your own modeling: your use or non-use of alcohol, what you say to your kids about alcohol, and what your kids hear you say about alcohol to others. 
• There is no evidence to support the idea that allowing a teen to try alcohol in the home, while supervised, will lead to healthier behaviors later in life. In general, earlier use, even when in the presence of parents, is correlated with higher incidences of alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse.

Further reading:

• Get the Facts About Underage Drinking
• Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report: 2011-2021

For Middle School students, Bergeron addressed nicotine specifically and the importance of making informed, healthy decisions. For Upper School students, Bergeron focused on some of the immediate and short-term consequences of using substances, and then shifted to early warning signs and what to do with concerns about self or a friend. Bergeron also shared with the students personal stories of her own struggles with and subsequent recovery from substance misuse.