Increase your confidence & comfort in talking to youth about drugs & alcohol

The Manchester Wellness Coalition, Manchester Pharmacy, and SRSLY Manchester are bringing a team of presenters from St. Joseph Mercy Hospital to Manchester to provide an exclusive demonstration, "Drugs 101," following the close of Math & Science Night on Friday April 21 at 7:30 pm at Klager Elementary. Need childcare to attend? A supervised movie will be playing for elementary and middle school aged children in the auditorium during the presentation.

The goal of the Drugs 101 presentation is to teach caring local adults how to identify warning signs and symptoms that their child or child's peers may be using substances, current trends in teen drug use, and ways to engage children in conversations about expectations related to drugs and alcohol.

A recent extensive community survey, the 2015 HIP, revealed that many Manchester community parents feel helpless when it comes to their children using substances. Twenty-eight percent of Manchester parents feel that what they say will have little influence on whether or not their children will use drugs. This is twice the rate of our neighboring communities. Interestingly, a similar number of students reported an adult had never talked to them about their expectations regarding alcohol and drug use. And according to a survey of MHS students, twenty-six percent of Manchester 9th graders reported their parents or other adult family member have NEVER talked to them about what they expect them to do OR not do when it comes to alcohol or other drugs.

The goal of the Drugs 101 presentation is to help our community’s parents and other caring adults increase their confidence and comfort in talking about youth alcohol and drug use. Conversations are most effective if you begin talking early and often about your expectations and the dangers of drug and alcohol use. Learn more about age appropriate conversation at Kids Health.

If you would like to become involved in prevention efforts targeting youth alcohol and drug use please contact Lindsay Hannah, SRSLY Manchester Coalition Program Director at 734-476-0686 or Lindsay@srslymanchester.org, or check out the SRSLY Manchester Website  at srslymanchester.org.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.