二月八号李庄Open Forum of Mental Health and Substance Abuse 摘要 (转自脸书李庄教育群)

Some Key Takeaways from the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Open Forum help on Feb 8th 2018 that maybe helpful to parents

- While surrounding towns may have an epidemic, Livingston is currently NOT seeing the same

- Drug and Alcohol addiction does not have any socio-economic bounds

- Marijuana and Hard alcohol consumption is becoming more common among kids. Beer is being replaced by hard liquor among teens

- When you drink, after a couple of drinks your decision making and threshold to resistance decreases and someone who may say no to drugs may find it more difficult to resist peer pressure to do drugs

- Schools have Student Assistance Counsellors (SAC) who are available to kids and parents for counselling on most common problems associated with teens. Although the School, district and SAC's are not acting a therapeutic way they can help point student and parents to the right resources.

- For a parent who was concerned with neighbors smoking marijuana openly in their shared backyard, the police advised that people can call the police anonymously and police can make investigations without naming names.

- One of the Community leaders from SYLS Jen Walker commented about not enough parent engagement at hoem for kids and in some cases over scheduling and programming for kids leading to increased stress and pressure among kids.

- ADAPT which is an Essex county based coalition of parents and volunteers provides support for faith based initiatives for religious organizations to take advantage of for their congregations.

- ADAPT also runs programs for senior citizens. Senior citizens are a growing population of opiod addiction! Opiate addiction can be problematic for different ages especially for older people who may have been given pain pills for an injury or malady

- There is a Livingston Parent Self-Help group for students and parents trying to deal with addiction and other teen related problems. This is a community of parent volunteers that help each other.

- The Livingston Policy Dept has been running programs within schools talking about drug related and cyber bullying issues. They have also extended these programs to the private schools in our neighborhood.

Some key links for parents:
1) Livingston Parent Support Group: The Livingston Parent Self-Help Support group has been meeting for 26 years. It was started by Debbie Lindner, who is still involved, and Helene and Jerry Dreskin have been co-facilitators for that past 17 years. The group meets every Tuesday evening from 7:45PM – 10:00PM at the Recreation Center. Anyone in need of help may call 973-994-4034.
Website: http://livingstontownship.org/lmac/?page_id=174

2) ADAPT - Achohol & Drug Abuse Prevention Team - The Essex Prevent Coalition
A coalition dedicated to reducing underage drinking and drug use/abuse throughout Essex County.
http://www.essexadapt.org/

3) LMAC - Livingston Municipal Alliance Committee
LMAC’s mission is to focus on the prevention of the illegal use and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs in the home, school, and community. LMAC believes that such prevention must be based on committed grassroots involvement.
http://www.lmacnj.org/

4) Livingston School District Administration
Administration: https://www.livingston.org/Page/17
School Principals: https://www.livingston.org/Page/21

5) Livingston Police Dept
Contact Nos. http://livingstontownship.org/police/sample-page/contact-us/