Are your kids curious about drugs? Are they risk takers?
And how would you handle it if they decided to experiment?
These questions and more — hot topics given the province-wide opioid crisis and overdose deaths attributed to fentanyl — will be answered during a series of seminars hosted by School District 43 with the support of Share Family and Community Services and Front-Line Prevention Services.
Beginning Feb. 15 at Heritage Woods secondary in Port Moody, each high school in the district will host a Parents as Partners in Prevention seminar to give as many parents as possible a chance to gain the knowledge to help their kids make smart choices, said SD43 assistant superintendent Rob Zambrano.
The program will be taught by Robb McGirr, an addiction counsellor and former Port Moody police officer, as well as health promotion facilitators from Share.
Zambrano said while the workshops are being held against a backdrop of concern about opioid overdoses and fentanyl use, they are not a reaction to the problem but part of a larger effort to engage parents more in topics that are being raised in the revised school curriculum.
"We actually began speaking about being more intentional in our delivery of a bunch of things last year and thought this particular topic might be something we want to start on," he told The Tri-City News.
But Zambrano acknowledged the topic is timely and the courses should give parents some tools to help initiate conversations with their kids.
"It's never too early to start this conversation. It's about values and choices and how to navigate the complexities of life for adolescents," he said, noting that while the workshops are for parents with kids of all ages, they are particularly targeted to those with children in middle and high school.
Schools are in the process of distributing information about the workshops, where topics of discussions will include:
• The substances of choice: What are they? What are their risks?
• Understanding and responding to "first-use" risks as youth transition to secondary school.
• Parental influence: How to support safe and healthy choices for youth.
• How to recognize and respond to a "drug-curious" youth.
• How to recognize and respond to a youth who may be "drug-active."
• Social Media: Where are children and youth getting their information.
All workshops will start at 7 p.m., and the information is designed for an adult audience — not children: The presentation dates are as follows:
• Heritage Woods, Wednesday, Feb. 15;
• Riverside, Tuesday, Feb.21;
• Centennial, Wednesday, Feb. 22;
• Port Moody, Thursday, Feb. 23;
• Dr. Charles Best, Tuesday, April 4;
• Terry Fox, Wednesday, April 5;
• Pinetree, Thursday, April 6;
• and Gleneagle, Wednesday, April 19.
