Cape Henlopen School District and partners host conversations about youth substance use with students, families and faculty.
The district teamed up with Beebe Healthcare and the Soundcheck Prevention Network to create the Student and Family Education Series on Substance Misuse and Prevention. The program offers educational opportunities to community members.
33 percent of Sussex County 11th graders reported alcohol use in the previous 30 days, according to a 2019 study. A 2021 study finds about 9 percent of Delaware children from 12 to 17 report using illicit drugs including marijuana.
Beebe Healthcare nurse and Director of Community Outreach Kim Blanch said prevention needs to be happening at the grade school level.
“So that students moving into middle schools are empowered and know facts,” Blanch said. “They have actual facts to inform the conversations that they have… So if we can empower the teachers and the faculty with this information and these prevention techniques and tools, as well as the parents, then everyone's on the same page.”
Blanch said these are necessary conversations because children are seeing people in their lives use substances. And sometimes, Delaware children are the ones using substances.
14 percent of Delaware's 11th graders have engaged in binge drinking and 32 percent have used a vaping device in their life, according to the 2019 Delaware School Survey.
The program is holding an educational event at Cape Henlopen High School at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30.
It all starts with open and honest communication, Blanch said. The program addresses how substance use affects young people and their brains differently than adults.
“I think it's really important that children in our communities, that students in our communities are educated on the best ways that they can maintain their safety, maintain an optimal approach to their health and wellbeing and maintain friendships.”
Blanch added that prevention and harm reduction has to happen in a multi-layered approach.
That means discussions with the community, access to data on the prevalence of substance use and learning from people in recovery.
