From the Harford County Department of Community Services, Office of Drug Control Policy:
(Bel Air, MD) – – Based on a 2010 Youth Commission Survey, 49% of youth grades 6-12 indicated they felt strongly about the need for alcohol and drug abuse educational program and initiatives. In response to this information, the Harford County Department of Community Services began planning a program to fill this need. On January 22, 2013 the Above the Influence Alcohol and Drug Education Program, a new prevention program, was launched.
The Above the Influence Alcohol & Drug Education Program was attended by eight Harford County youth. The morning portion of the program focused on Alcohol education and featured a victim impact speaker, a discussion on the effects of alcohol & drug use on the family, as well as some interactive activities. A local mother who lost her daughter due to drunk driving shared her personal story with the attendees. The afternoon portion of the program focused on drug education with an emphasis on marijuana, synthetic drugs, and prescription drug abuse. The Harford County Sheriff’s Office K9 unit provided a demonstration and spoke with the attendees about the legal aspect of underage drinking, drug use, and driving under the influence.
The next Above the Influence class will be held on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. There is no cost to attend the program and lunch and snacks are provided at no charge to attendees. Space is limited. To register your child for the prevention class, or to learn more about the program, please contact the Office of Drug Control Policy at 410-638-3333 or odcp@harfordcountymd.gov.
The Harford County Office of Drug Control Policy is a division within the Department of Community Services. The Harford County Department of Community Services was established in 1979 via Executive Order and works daily to meet the needs of our seniors, youth, persons with disabilities and those struggling to overcome addiction. The Department works with federal, state, local and private agencies to ensure our county continues to evolve and remains dedicated to providing the best possible services for our citizens and community.
I remember the days when PARENTS “full-filled” the need. So sad. Schools expected to raise kids and not parents. More $$$$ please!
F.L. I agree with you. This should be the responsibility of the parents; but, then again, government is becoming the surrogate parent, and parents are allowing the government to step in and do their job. Parents talking with their kids about these issues strengthens the bonds of communication and keeps the channel open for more important discussions later on in life. I did not sign up to have my tax dollars go toward these kinds of programs. I took responsibility for my kids, and I expect others to do the same. It is time to start pushing back hard on the culture of enabling that has been created.
This is beruecratic feel goodness, DARE has been a school program for decades.
Where did the article state that this was a school program? Yes, your tax dollars might be involved, but is Community Service something that you aren’t willing to contribute to? As to the point of schools being involved in drug education (which isn’t what this article is even about), that isn’t a new thing either. I was introduced to ‘drug education’ as a child in a Harford County School in 1975 (so it began before then)! Drug and Alcohol use affect Everyone in the community, not just those with the problem or just teenagers, but everyone. How many drunk driving incidents involve Adults who ‘know all the facts’? I think it’s an excellent idea to offer classes on a topic that needs to be continually discussed (drugs/availability do change over the generations) and one that not everyone has the knowledge base to teach effectively. If you don’t think that ‘public service announcements’ have had a positive effect on reducing cigarette use in minors for instance, you might do a little research. As much as media can have a negative influence on society, it can also have a positive influence when used for a good purpose. My own mother didn’t know the first thing about drugs when I was a kid in the 60’s & 70’s and couldn’t have taught me anything other than what she might read in a library book. Just telling kids ‘drugs/alcohol are bad, you’ll get addicted, ruin your life and die early’ doesn’t have much impact. It doesn’t mean she didn’t try or that she shouldn’t have, just that she didn’t have many facts to back up her argument. Even less effective when I could see kids around me doing drugs and … not getting addicted nor dying. Public classes don’t negate the need for parents to take an active part in their children’s social education but they are certainly a great way to make actual Facts available to teens and other interested parties.
I believe an average teenager will be more receptive to listening to a parent who lost a child or a police officer that deals with actual drug offenders and the locally popular drugs, than they might be to listening to their own parents. I even did a few drugs back in the day but I won’t pretend to know much about what’s out there and available to my kids today! It’s the nature of the age-range to think your own parents “don’t understand” and I have no problem letting my kids hear others more knowledgeable than I, reiterate the lessons I try to impart.
Thank you HC parent for your input, you were reading my mind as I scrolled throught the first three comments. I am happy this is offered via the Office of Drug Control however, I think we this education in our schools. FYI: In the event some parents are in the dark, their is a drug and alcohol epidemic in the county.
HC Parent says it well.
More parents need to take their heads out of the sand and realize that what these kids have available to them today is deadly. To think that the average parent is equipped with enough knowledge to handle this on their own is simply foolish.
Our children in this county are dying at an alarming rate.
Thank God that our local government is finally addressing this issue.
Kids have deu
Our children have access to drugs whether it be prescription or street drugs. If kids are going to experiment and become the next generation of addicts, they should look no further than their immediate families and the example being set with addiction and codependency. There is always the addict and the enabler. The drug of choice today comes in all shapes and sizes whether it be food, video games, alcohol, street drugs, Rx, etc. If we allow this to go too far sooner or later local governments will think it is their job to have “food policies” and food enforcements, video game policies and enforcements. It all starts with the parents teaching their children how to make good choices. And, incidentally, it was the FDA and the food pyramid that led us down the wrong path with food. There is a direct correlation between obesity and diabetes and the introduction of the FDA’s food pyramid. Parents have to hold their kids accountable and follow through with consequences. I, personally, think it is time to end the failed war on drugs just like was done with alcohol prohibition.
As for parents not having access to information, kids get the information faster than anyone because they know how to use the Internet.
If MOM is indicating that researching the internet and teaching your kids about drugs will keep them from using, she is the one that needs to do research. There is no correlation between good parenting and drug use among kids. My daughter died at the age of 19 from a drug overdose. There are many factors that go into a child choosing drugs. I am a good parent. Never been in trouble with the law, Girrl Scout leader for 10 years, work in Healthcare. I raised two beautiful daughters. One got into drugs, one didn’t.
There are more families like mine than their are familis that didn’t raise their children correctly. We need to educate our children and it needs to
not only come from the parents, but from the community as well.
work in Healthcare,
yvonne – I just want to say that I am incredibly sorry for your loss! I agree wholeheartedly with you that drug & alcohol use/abuse/addiction is not relegated to children of ‘bad’ parents. ALL teenagers are susceptible to peer pressure in all its varied forms, and a teen’s friends/peers often have the greater influence on them over decision making during those years. I did many things in highschool that my parents had no clue about – all the while maintaining my grades, my friendships, my household responsibilities, playing sports or working and etc. I had Very good parents, by anyone’s standards, then and now. I was never addicted to anything, but played around enough that I could have become a victim of drugs or alcohol at any time. Luck (and that’s all it was) was on my side during those ‘dreaded’ teenage years… thankfully.
Mom, thank you.
Since the death of my daughter, I have been an advocate in our county to try to educate our kids. I have attended numerous meetings, spoken to teens in the drug court program and spoken to our County Council, School Board and Md. General Assembly in Annapolis.
The problem is bigger than most parents think. I upsets me to hear people condemn the efforts of our local drug task force for trying to help.
yvonne – I for one, appreciate your efforts! I would be thrilled to see a better showing of kids at the next meeting and to that end, have emailed the article to the middle school counselor. I simply asked if the class had been or could be, advertised at school to generate more awareness. I don’t know how limited the ‘limited space’ is, but I’ve emailed the ODPC to get more information for myself and my kids.
Thanks again!
Mom, thank you for being proactive. This is so very important. I ask all of you, please get involved. Talk to your child, your child’s school administrators, and our Office of Drug Control Policy. The next statistic could be your child ! Drug addiction is an equal opportunity employer.
I show my children obituaries in the newspaper of people who have died from reckless driving behind the wheel. In reality whether it is fatigue, drugs, alcohol, cell phone usage, it almost always boils down to reckless driving, yet, the government wants to control every aspect of our lives. If you don’t want your kids to do it, set the example. I never talk on the phone and drive. I am a runner and cyclist, and it absolutely abhors me how many moms I see at major intersections with a car full of kids talking on a cell phone. So, here will come the next wave of cell phone enforcement policies. It just never ends. People need to start thinking big picture and the consequences of where we are heading.
Question: Who is responsible for your life and your decisions?
“Question: Who is responsible for your life and your decisions?”
I’m always amazed how people will twist a topic to meet their own agenda. I think we get that you don’t like ‘big government’ controlling how you conduct your personal life (is there anyone here that does?), but that wasn’t the topic here. How does taking a class offered by a government agency translate in to letting the government make my decisions or become responsible for me? This agency has access to a lot more resources than I, as an individual do. Additionally, the class was devised because kids expressed an interest in learning more about the topic.
If I want to learn more about tax preparation, should I automatically take the course offered by H&R Block and not the one offered by the IRS – because then the government would automatically have control over me?
HC Parent, I am sorry. I thought your comments were from MOM. But nonetheless, thank you so much for the proactive approach you are taking.
Interesting that while the ODCP is interested in educating people, including kids, about the dangers the State is busy reducing the penalty for having marijuana. I know what some people will say is the reason for that but isn’t the message, unintended or not, that it’s no big deal?
Do the Harlem shake
Unce da na na na na
A little off topic: How many know parents that let their under-aged kids drink in their house under the guise of ” their going to do it anyway and I’d rather them do it here” ?? I think that is a big problem in this whole mid-atlantic area and I think those parents are scared of being parents and want to be their kids “friend” instead of their parents…………….. Who runs the house??!!
You asked “How many parents let their under-age kids drink in their house…..?” Not sure about around here but in Steubenville, Ohio a lot less this week than before. And I predict the number is about to take a further precipitous drop.