RSS 2.0 FeedThursday, January 5, 2012, Bellmore Life
Beware of dangers in the medicine cabinet
Parent Center presents timely workshop.
A parent-targeted Substance Abuse awareness program will be hosted by the Community Parent Center in partnership with the Bellmore-Merrick CHSD, and the Bellmore, North Bellmore, Merrick and North Merrick school districts, Legislator David Denenberg and the Bellmore-Merrick Coalition Against Substance Abuse at the Brookside School, 1260 Meadowbrook Road in North Merrick, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 11.
To register for “Dangers in Your Medicine Cabinet: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Children,” contact Wendy Tepfer at the Community Parent Center at 771-9346. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.
The program, addressing drug abuse – kids using prescription and over the counter drugs on purpose to get high, will be presented by Nassau County Detective Pam Stark and Steve Chassman, LMSW, clinical director of L.I.Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.
Prescription and over-the-counter medications have become the new “party” drugs for many tweens and teens. Every day, 2,500 kids age 12 to 17 abuse prescription medications for the first time. In this program you will hear how to keep your kids safe in a changing world by learning the facts, the risks, prevention strategies, and how and where to get help.
According to Parents: the Anti-Drug, parents are the most important influence in a teen’s decisions about drug use. “Therefore, it is critical that parents educate themselves about the real dangers of prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse by our youth. They must discuss the risks associated with this dangerous trend with their kids,” said Mrs. Tepfer, executive director of the parent center.
The dangers facing teenagers today are far worse than they were just a few years ago. Alcohol and other drug use have destroyed too many futures and taken too many lives.
Now is the time for parents to stand together to educate themselves and their children about the real dangers they face.
The more the community is educated on this topic, the better it can protect its youth.
