Drug Education in a Continuation’s Continuation

Posted by Tony Bylsma on March 24, 2010 under Drug Abuse Prevention Education | Be the First to Comment

This morning I was in a continuation school’s continuation school.

A continuation school is a place for students who have been found to need special attention to keep up in high school, or middle school and been sent to the “alternative education center”.  They aren’t necessarily sent there because of drugs, or behavior problems, but often that is the case.

The school today was for students who were expelled completely from their district’s school system. While a couple of them were booted because of behavior problems, and because of attendance records that were so bad they were just wasting everyone’s time, the largest percentage of these kids were there as a result of substance abuse. Even the usual “last chance” school is a step above this one. I have attended this type of facility so many times that I really have gotten to know the kids and I have to say I really like them.

They are in trouble, that is for sure, but most of them can work their ways back into the main High School with a little effort. And most of them do. The turn over is high at these schools; I visited this same school just about 8 months ago, and out of 40 students, only 4 or 5 had been there when I last spoke. The rest had either dropped out or worked their ways back in to the regular continuation school or to the main high school, which is only about three blocks away.

There will always be a familiarity with drugs in these facilities that is above the usual high school awareness, but it is rarely a higher understanding.

Too often students feel that because they are familiar with the drugs, they actually understand them. That is a very dangerous misconception.

Experience with a drug may actually put the user at a higher danger level with regards to that drug as well as other drugs.

The first time a kid take a pill, or whatever drug, they tend to be cautious and often will only try a small amount to avoid overdosing. But once the first try goes off without a hitch, without any real problems, the tendency is to believe that drug to be safe and they often take a larger dose the next time out. After a few times without any scary episodes, they feel confident that there is very little danger in it and that risky behavior becomes reckless behavior.

The students I spoke to today were fun, and after some initial resistance, our discussion about the drugs they are seeing (and using) became very open and informative. You could see surprise on their faces as we discussed what is actually in some of the stuff they are abusing in the streets.

As is usually the case, a percentage of this particular population is already addicted to getting high. Even if they aren’t addicted to any particular drug, they are hooked on being “bent”, they don’t want to be straight anymore. For those students, the only real option is treatment in a detox rehab facility that won’t just continue their destructive, “drugs are the answer” behavior patterns.

But I could see there were quite a few of them who were making choices right in front of my eyes–choices that will lead them away from the drug scene. I could see it in their faces and in the surveys they filled out after I finally shut up, two hours later.This amounted to, after a fashion, high school intervention.

Here are a few of the comments from those surveys:

“I can use this to teach my friends and little brother to prevent them from messing up their lives.”

“I though the talk was very informative and Tony explained drugs better than I’ve ever heard. It didn’t put people down for being addicted like I’ve seen in the past. My thoughts changed dramatically.”

“I thought this talk to me and the other students was really good because now we know more about what’s in drug (sic) and what it can do to you. I can use this by telling friends about it.”