Community :: An open forum about Teens and Drugs and Alcohol
Hi Everyone!
My name is Sandra and I am a counselor at the Outpatient Adolescent Treatment Services (OATS) program in Richmond. We are a drug and alcohol treatment program for teens, and I want to start this open forum to share the information and discussions that we have in group with the rest of the community. Our group members can also log on and have all the info that we discuss online where they can always access it.
I hope the community finds our forum worthwhile and relevant to your lives. And I hope you all will feel free to leave info about discussion topics you want to hear more about or any other questions/feedback you might have!
I posted some interesting facts below....
Check out what alcohol does to our brains:
http://www.marininstitute.org/Youth/teen_alcohol_use.htm
Here are a few highlights from this wesite:
*Research shows teen drinkers score worse than their non-drinking peers on vocabulary, visual-spatial, and memory tests, and are more likely to perform poorly in school as a whole.
*Teens who drink alcohol may remember 10 percent less of what they learn compared to non-drinking adolescents.
*Teenage girls 12 to 16 years old who currently drink alcohol are four times more likely than their non-drinking peers to suffer from depression.
So, not only does drinking affect they way our brains work, it also affects how we feel!
OATS (Outpatient Adolescent Treatment Services) is a substance abuse treatment program for youth 12-18 years old in Richmond California. This blog is to share the experiences our participants are taking in their journey toward a healthy and drug free life. For more information please check out our agency link at http://www.chaaweb.org/contra-costa
Looking at Violence in a new way:
Violence can be thought of as a cycle...
When someone experiences something VIOLENT or traumatic, it will have an IMPACT on that person. That impact can take many forms, like depression or anger for example. In order to deal with IMPACT, people usually develop COPING MECHANISMS, which can be healthy such as holding anti-violence rallies, or they can be unhealthy like using Alcohol and Drugs in order totry to forget the violence or trauma. These COPING MECHANISMS can lead others to form STEREOTYPES such as "young people always use drugs" or "teenagers are always involved in violence in Richmond". STEREOTYPES are closely related to POLICIES which can take the form of young people going to jail or juvenile hall. Once these policies take effect, young people can be inclined or involved in VIOLENCE all over again due to negative experiences in jail, for example. So as you can see, all of these capilalized words are related to each other and can lead to one another in this cycle of violence.
Can you guys think of ways this cycle has taken place in your life?
Yesterday in our OATS Group we had a debate about a hypothetical difficult situation.
What would you do if you were Juan in this senario?
Juan is Phil's older brother. They get along well at home and treat each other not only as brothers, but also as good friends. Phil has confided that he has been getting pretty depressed lately and has managed to get a hold of some drugs. Juan sees where Phil hides the drugs at home. Their mom, suspecting the brothers are using drugs, searches their room but doesn't find anything. So their mom asks Juan where the drugs are.
What should Juan say or do?
Should Juan cover for Phil?
Does it matter what kind of Drugs they are?
What if it is weed? What if it is cocaine? Meth?
Does it make a difference if Phil is using?
Who would be affected if Phil overdosed on these drugs?
Let me know what you guys think about these hard questions!
KQED is a public radio station that does some interesting FREE podcasts and FREE online radio shows called "Health Dialogs" that talk about health issues in America.
They did one a few months ago on drug and alcohol addiction and talked about the latest ways to treat it. Sounds like there are a lot of different opinions out there...
check it out and listen for free here:
http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R907232000
What do you guys think?!
OATS (Outpatient Adolescent Treatment Services) is a substance abuse treatment program for youth 12-18 years old in Richmond California. This blog is to share the experiences our participants are taking in their journey toward a healthy and drug free life. For more information please check out our agency link at http://www.chaaweb.org/contra-costa
Has anyone ever heard the term "Moral Reasoning?"
Moral Reasoning is related to how people make decisions. There are four stages of moral reasoning. As you read them, think about times when you/friends/family have used the kind of thinking in each stage.
Stage One - "Might Makes Right"
People in this stage believe that doing what's right is doing whatever powerful people (like the law or the police) say to do.
Stage Two - "You Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Yours"
People in this stage usually do things in exchange for favors. People in this stage also try to not steal or cheat because they don't want to get caught.
Stage Three - "Treat Others as You Would Hope They Would Treat You"
People in stage 3 value relationships, and want to make sure that others believe they are making good and moral decisions, and work hard to do the right thing.
Stage Four - "Are you Contributing to Society?"
Stage four thinkers believe that society/the community will get better if people respect others' rights and make decisions that will help others.
What does everyone think of these stages? Can you think of different times when you've used different stages of thinking?
Sandra at OATS Group