When Sean Speaks Presentation

On Wednesday. November 28, we had a presentation during Activity Period called When Sean Speaks.  Sean Carter, with his mother Jenny, came to speak to us about the consequences of choices. In his case, he chose to get into the car with a drunk driver and was involved in an accident that left him with many serious injuries. Interestingly, the power of his message is through his silence – as the result of the accident, he is only able to communicate electronically. His accident happened several years after his high school days, but he shared that he had acquired the habit of drinking and of drinking to excess in high school.
 
Today, alcohol, drugs and tobacco are as prevalent as ever and I hope that you talk with your child frequently about the dangers related to their use. In particular, it seems like our young people are particularly mesmerized by the vaping culture. There is an idea that it’s not harmful or that it’s better than tobacco. Are you familiar with the Juul? Do you know that the nicotine in one pod is the equivalent of 1 pack of cigarettes? And the pods come in all sorts of flavors – and the chemical that makes the flavors is known to cause long term lung damage. They are not a game and are an especially effective gateway to more potent drugs and long term addiction. Please take some time to look over the articles about vaping that I have listed at the end of this letter. More importantly, please take some time to talk with your child about this information. Our young people need to know about these things in order to be prepared to navigate a society where they are popular.
 
Thank you to the Frassati Family Association for hosting the presentation Watch UR BAC to parents also on Wednesday, November 28. It was extremely informative about the trends in drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse. 

Below is a list of resources that are available regarding the topics discussed above, and information being shared in the book discussion group.

When Sean Speaks
http://whenseanspeaks.com/home/
 
Vaping
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/health/vaping-juul-teens-addiction-nicotine.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article®ion=Footer
 
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/14/well/family/how-to-talk-with-teenagers-about-vaping.html
http://thera-mom.com/the-new-everyone-does-it-4-important-talking-points-with-your-teenager-about-vaping/
 
“Vaping is Far from Harmless” PBS
 
“E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults” US Department of Health & Human Services
 
“Perceptions of Harm to Children Exposed to Secondhand Aerosol From Electronic Vapor Products” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
 
“Are E-Cigs Bad for Your Health?” TIME
 
“Surgeon General Sounds the Alarm on Teens and e-Cigarettes” CNN
 
Screen Time/Technology & Young People
https://www.cathmed.org/videos
 
Disconnected by Thomas Kersting
 
Glow Kids by Nicholas Kadaras
 
The Tech Talk by Michael Horne
 
Age of Opportunity by Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D./>