Keeping our Teens Safe from Themselves

1
Keeping our Teens Safe from Themselves
Presented by (add presenter name here)

• Written by Alina Baltazar, LMSW, CFLE
• Assistant Professor and MSW program director of
  Social Work for Andrews University in Berrien
  Springs, Michigan, USA
• From Revival and Reformation Families Reaching
  Across.

2
Introduction

• Gods task for parents.
• Adolescent growth and change.
• Experimentation is common.
• Vignettes
• Jessicas story
• Rays story
• Jeffs story
• Train up a child in the way he should go, and
  when he is old he will not depart from it.
  Proverbs 226
• Small group activity
• What fears do these scenarios bring out in you as
  a parent?
• Are there things you can do to decrease the
  chance your teenagers end up in such horrible
  circumstances?

3
Adolescent Substance Use Rates

• Vast majority of 9-12th graders in the US report
  drinking alcohol once in their life.
• 90 of youth age 12-20 binge drink alcohol on
  multiple occasions in their lifetime (most are
  college students).
• Almost half have used marijuana in their
  lifetime, about 25 during the last 30 days.
• Almost a quarter have used prescription drugs
  without a prescription in their lifetime.
• About 10 have used inhalants in their lifetime.

4
Power of Communication

• Communicate care
• Stop whatever you are doing and listen.
• Actively, unconditionally listen.
• Listen to their point of view.
• Educate on the dangers of substance use
• Choose a good time to talk.
• Share stories from the news or people you know.
• Make them away of legal issues.
• Communicate clear expectations
• This is especially important when there is
  limited supervision or they are away at school.
• Make sure they know what the consequences will
  be.
• Role-play
• Pair up with someone else and practice what you
  would say to your teen about drugs and what
  behavior you expect. Then switch roles.

5
Parental Monitoring

• Parental monitoring and involvement
• Keep prescriptions locked up.
• Discussion question
• What will you do to monitor your teens behavior?

6
Religiosity

• Decreases substance use.
• Do you know that your bodies are temples of the
  Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have
  received from God? You are not your own you are
  bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your
  bodies. 1 Corinthians 619-20
• Support their spiritual journey.
• Discussion Question
• What helped your religious development during the
  teen years?
• What have you or could you do to support your
  teens religious development?

7
Adolescent Suicide Rates

• Third to second leading cause of death for those
  age 15-24 in many countries
• For every death there are 20 attempts
• Rates are increasing worldwide.

8
Suicide Risk Factors

• Family history
• Depression
• Low self-esteem
• Substance use
• Impulsiveness
• Females more likely to attempt, males more likely
  to succeed.
• Anxious attachment to parents
• Sexual abuse
• Lack of supportive friends
• Overwhelming loss or stress
• Access to a firearm or lethal means.

9
Bullying

• Get involved when serious or repetitive.
• Approach teacher then principal.
• Get authorities involved if severe.
• Intervention

10
Suicide Warning Signs

• Giving hints may be want to be around
• Talking about feeling hopeless
• Isolation
• Writing about death
• Giving away treasured possessions
• Losing interest
• Trouble concentrating
• Changes in eating or sleeping
• Risk-behaviors

11
Coping Skills

• Support
• Healthy lifestyle
• Social activity
• Relaxation/medication
• Positive thinking
• Suffer consequences of their own behavior
• Anything that lessons physical strength
  enfeebles the mind and makes it less capable of
  discriminating between right and wrong. We become
  less capable of choosing the good and have less
  strength of will do that which we know to be
  right. Christs Object Lessons, p.346
• Individual activity What do you do to cope?

12
Professional Resources

• Counselors
• Medication
• Psychiatrist
• Inpatient hospitalization
• Role-play
• Similar to the role-play communicating about
  substances, now practice what you would say about
  suicide, then switch roles.
• What situation would prompt you to say something?

13
References

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  (2010). Alcohol and public health (Fact sheet).
  Retrieved from http//www.cdec.gov/alcohol/fact-sh
  eets/under-age-drinking.htm.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  (2011). Trends in the prevalence of alcohol use
  national YRBS 1991-2011. Retrieved from
  www.cdec.gov/healthyouth/yrbs/pdf/us_alcohol_trend
  _yrbs.pdf
• Cail, J. LaBrie, J. W. (2010). Disparity
  between perceived alcohol-related attitudes of
  parents and peers increases alcohol risk in
  college students. Addictive Behavior, 35(2),
  135-139.
• Compas, B.E., Hinden, B.R., Gerhardt, C. A.
  (1995). Adolescent development Pathways and
  process of risk and resilience. Annual Review
  Psychology, 46, 265-293.
• Labrie, J.W. Sessoms, A. (2012). Parents still
  matter The role of parental attachment in risky
  drinking among college students. Journal of
  Child Adolescent Substance Abuse, 21(1),
  91-104.
• Low, N. C. P., Dugas, E., OLoughlin, E.,
  Rodriguez, D., Contreras, G., Chaiton, M.,
  OLoughlin, J. (2012). Common stressful life
  events and difficulties are associated with
  mental health symptoms and substance use in young
  adolescents. BMC Psychiatry, 12(116). Retrieved
  from http//www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471
  -244X-12-116.pdf.
• Pierorazio, D. A. (2009). A reframing of
  protective factors in the context of risk,
  adversity, nd competence in adolescents.
  Retrieved from http//www.csm.edu/wfdata/files/Aca
  demics/Library/InstitutionalRepository/19.pdf
• Scales, P.C. Roehlkepartain, E.C. (2004).
  Community service and service-learning in U.S.
  public schools, 2004. Retrieved from
  http//www.search-institute.org/system/files/2004G
  2GCompleteSurvey.pdf
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  (2013). Respond to bullying. Retrieved from
  http//www.stopbullying.gov/respond/index.html.
• Werner, E. (2005). Resilience and recovery
  Findings from the Kauai longitudinal study.
  Research Policy, and Practice in Childrens
  Mental Health, 19(1), 11-14.
• World Health Organization. (2013). Suicide
  prevention (Fact Sheet). Retrieved from
  http//www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicid
  e/suicideprevent/en/