One of the problems with teens using drugs and alcohol regularly is the getting "high" and "being high" becomes so normal for them that they stop caring about how they do that. "Head Shops" (stores that cater to people who are cannabis users are selling products that are "synthetic marijuana" There...
I think one of the reasons the Drug Class program works in our schools is that it brings a problem into the open, talks about it, teaches about it and makes getting help OK. I've told this story hundreds of times but here it is again. Part 1 One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The...
Again another interesting day. Presentations to the grade 5 and then grade 6 classes then watched a Canada World Youth project. This involved video interviews and diary cam work with local teens and guess what... one of their primary concerns is substance use. I also had a really interesting session...
Eyes Wide Open It is very easy to think that whatever is going on with your teen is just “teen” stuff. If we are not careful we will often pass off changes as being just “growing up” or “experimenting” or “teen angst”. We can also really get caught by...
More interesting stuff today. We spent the morning at the Hay River Community Counselling Centre talking with the counsellors about what they are doing and what they could add to their community to make things better. Like most agencies they are dealing with more people than they have the resources...
We all have power. In the movie "The Missing" Tommy Lee Jones plays a Medicine Man. He has lost a lot of his power because he has been feeding the wrong part of his character. Many of us do the same thing, and we get weaker. A grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt. He said, "I...
I read this the other day, thought it was worth sharing. There comes a point in life when you get tired of chasing everyone and trying to fix everything, but it’s not giving up. It’s realizing you don’t need certain people and things and the drama they bring. If a person wants to...
We are all aware of peer pressure, it has been around for a long time. The current world of social networking sites has complicated the situation. The article below really clarifies why this can be a problem. If teens are on one or more of these sites a lot they are constantly being bombarded...
Here is a good article about drug use and mental health. http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/familyhealth/article/983242--the-teens-are-a-critical-time-for-mental-health
From cbc.ca British Columbia is the first province to formally recognize alcohol addiction as a chronic medical condition, a move aimed at improving treatment. As of Friday, the new policy emphasizes preventive measures and gives family doctors more time and resources to treat patients with alcohol...
