EDMOND — While the Edmond School District is organizing a group to research addiction, a local middle school is leading the way in making students aware of addiction and how much can be lost because of it.
“A newly organized group to study drug prevention, intervention and treatment has been formed by the district in the last two months to help the schools be more focused in their fight against drug usage,” said Jim Carlile, alternative education director at Boulevard Academy.
The district offers small group counseling and individual counseling, and there also is information and counseling through Edmond Family Counseling and A Chance to Change, Carlile said.
The Drug and Alcohol Issues Study Committee will meet for the first time this Thursday to research drug prevention, intervention and treatment. At this time the committee will be composed of school personnel and possibly will include parents and students at a later date.
“Since we didn’t go forward with the drug testing policy we formed this committee to help us be more pro-active with our drug and alcohol issues,” said Brenda Lyons, associate superintendent of secondary education.
The committee will look at what is going on, researching successful programs and making recommendations, Lyons said.
Middle school students at Summit are taking an active role in making fellow classmates aware of addiction and the pain it causes through the school organization 2 Much 2 Lose.
“Although 2 Much 2 Lose (2M2L) is a nationally recognized organization, Summit is the first Edmond school as well as the first school in Oklahoma to sponsor this group,” said Karen Benway, one of the club sponsors.
“2 Much 2 Lose is a statewide initiative focused on reducing and preventing underage drinking through law enforcement efforts, community and social norms, change and youth leadership,” Benway said.
This year the organization combined with the school’s drama club to perform skits for the eighth-graders. The students also listened to poems and were made aware of the consequences of underage drinking.
The program last week included eighth-grade teachers leading students in a time to remember fellow classmates who have been lost due to drugs and alcohol.
“One of the most effective ways to tackle an issue as big as underage drinking is to change the social norms or change what’s acceptable in the society in which we live,” Benway said. “We are doing this by teaming up with our law enforcement and community members.”
Benway said students this age want to do good things, and eighth grade is an opportune time to make students aware of the problems addiction can cause.
“Where we need to reach out more is to provide as many avenues for positive things as we can while they are young,” Benway said. “Our students are trying to be pro-active and we are encouraging them to be involved, be leaders and stand up for what they know is right.”
Four of the 2M2L members will attend a leadership camp this summer with hopes of returning and helping their friends make positive choices.
“The reality is that someone will have died in our country from an alcohol-related driving accident before this assembly is over,” Benway told the eighth-grade students, “and it is not always the person who is driving.
“It is important that you make the right choices. You are too much to lose.”
FOR MORE information about 2 Much 2 Lose, go online to www.2much2lose.com.
Addiction
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