Strath Haven

1
NAVIGATING THE HIGH SCHOOL YEARS LIFE OUTSIDE
THE CLASSROOM

• Strath Haven
• High School
• Home and School Association Meeting
• March 12, 2015

2
Overview of Presentation

• Preventative Measures
• Professional Resources
• Attendance
• Student Assistance Program
• Characteristics of Safe Schools
• Senior Survey
• Research on Marijuana Use
• Recommendations and Resources for Parents

3
Professional Resources

• Staff involvement is essential to the maintenance
  of a healthy school climate
• Counselors
• Crisis counselor
• Nurse
• Psychologist
• Deans
• Faculty and staff
• Health curriculum Community speakers Mock Crash
• Administrators
• Social worker
• SAP Team

4
Focus on Attendance

• Students are safest when they report to school
  regularly and on time
• Attendance rates have been maintained at or above
  95.0 at SHHS, with an annual rate of 96.

5
Student Assistance Program

• Team meetings are held every other week
• Team includes Social worker, deans, counselors,
  trained teachers, principal, nurse, psychologist,
  Crozer representative
• Approximately 100-120 students are referred and
  addressed through the program each year
• Referrals come from all areas of the community,
  and address many concerns
• Additional programs include Groups, Peer
  Educators, Diversity Trainers

6
Characteristics of Safe Schools

• Positive faculty role models
• Respect for diversity and difference
• Communication between students and adults
• Constructive management of conflicts
• Code of silence broken
• Relationships established between students and
  staff

7

• SENIOR CLASS SURVEY

• Monitoring the Future administered to Classes of
  2006 and 2007
• Senior survey administered each spring
• National data available with varied areas of
  emphasis available at www.monitoringthefuture.org,
  www.drugabuse.gov.

8
Attendance Indicators
9
Tobacco Indicators
10
Alcohol Indicators
11
Marijuana Indicators
12
Usage Indicators
39 report marijuana usage, other drugs
significantly lower than national data, but
still a risk, given misuse of prescription drugs
and others
13
Risks of Marijuana Use

• Schizophrenia
• Respiratory diseases and cancer
• Maternal use risks
• Impaired/reduced
• Verbal and logical reasoning skills
• Short and long term memory
• Mathematical and verbal skill deficits
• Motivation, self-esteem, interpersonal
  relationships
• Increased aggression
• Addiction

14
Marijuana IS an addictive substance
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Marijuana Addiction

• Addiction difficulty controlling your drug use
  and cannot stop even though it interferes with
  many aspects of your life.
• Marijuana accounted for 4.5 million of estimated
  7.1 million Americans dependent on or abusing
  illicit drugs (NSDUH, 2010).
• In 2009, 18 of people aged 12 entering drug
  abuse treatment programs reported marijuana as
  their primary drug of abuse 61 of persons under
  15 reported marijuana as their primary drug of
  abuse.
• Marijuana addiction similar to nicotine
  withdrawal makes it hard to quit.

16
Academic Consequences of Marijuana Use

• A recent study found that those who used
  marijuana heavily in their teens and continued
  through adulthood showed a permanent drop in IQ
  of 8 points.
• Youth with an average grade of D or below were
  more than four times as likely to have used
  marijuana in the past year than youth with an
  average grade of A.
• College students with high levels (17 days/month)
  of marijuana use were twice as likely as those
  with minimal use (less than one day/month) to
  have an enrollment gap while in college

17
Disciplinary Consequences of Legalization
18
Additional Risks of Marijuana Use

• Marijuana is the most prevalent illegal drug
  detected in impaired drivers, fatally injured
  drivers, and motor vehicle crash victims.
• According to the American Council for Drug
  Education in NY, employees who abuse drugs are
• 10 times more likely to miss work
• 3.6 times more likely to be involved in on-the
  job incidents
• 5 times more likely to file a workers comp
  claim
• And regular users cant pass drug tests!

19
Policy 227 First Offense

• Referral to SAP Program
• Suspension from school
• Participation in substance abuse program
• School/community service
• Suspension from representation in extracurricular
  activities

20
Law Enforcement Perspective

• Chief David Splain, Nether Providence
• Chief Brian Craig, Swarthmore
• Detective Mike Erickson, Nether Providence
• Officer James Irey, Nether Providence
• Officer Mike Markunas, Nether Providence

21
Online Resources

• SAM Smart Approaches to Marijuana
  http//learnaboutsam.com/
• Above the Influence http//www.abovetheinfluence.c
  om/facts/drugsmarijuana
• CALM Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana
  http//www.calmca.org/
• Office of National Drug Control Policy
  http//www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/frequently-askedqu
  estions-and-facts-about-marijuana
• http//www.capabilitiesinc.com/research.html

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Online Resources, cont.

• www.casacolumbia.org
• www.mentorfoundation.org/Uploads/
• Adolescent_Brain_Booklet.pdf
• http//www.caron.org/knowledge-library/teenage-abu
  se-addiction/marijuana
• SHHS Library Media Center
• Teen Health and Wellness Database

23
Recommendations The Significant Seven

• 1. Identification with viable role models
• 2. Identification with and responsibility for a
  meaningful role in family life
• 3. Faith in personal resources to solve problems
• 4. Self-discipline, self-control, ability to
  learn from experience (intrapersonal skills)
• 5. Communication, cooperation, empathy
  (interpersonal skills)
• 6. Adaptability, flexibility, integrity (systemic
  skills)
• 7. Decision-making, ethics (judgment skills)

Author Dr. Stephen Glenn
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Setting Effective Boundaries

• Eliminate electronic distractions in the evening
• Know your childs social group
• In order to be effective, boundaries for teens
  must
• Be stated clearly and briefly in simple language
• Meet recognized and understood needs
• Have clear consequences for violations
• Be enforceable
• Be negotiated
• Be common knowledge

25
Hands On Parents

• Monitor what teens watch on television
• Monitor what teens do on the internet
• Put restrictions on music teens buy
• Know where teens are after school and on weekends
• Expect to be told the truth by teens about where
  they are going
• Are very aware of teens academic performance
• Impose a curfew
• Make it clear they would be extremely upset if
  teen used marijuana
• Eat dinner with teens most every night
• Turn off the television during dinner
• Assign teens regular chores
• Have an adult present when teens arrive home from
  school