Mar 19, 09 | Posted by: Kristin Bencik Boudreau, D.O.
Turning a tragedy
Unless you never watch the news, it is nearly impossible that you have not heard about the tragic death of Maddie Kiefer from a drug overdose. Tonight, her death brought about the first town meeting in Whitefish Bay to try and combat drug use in our kids. I went tonight not really knowing what to expect; but as a pediatrician who works in the area she lives and a mother of Whitefish Bay students, I just felt like I should. I was absolutely amazed at the number of people who attended- standing room only and spilling into the halls. We were all united by one theme- how can we avoid another tragedy. Although everyone has different ideas about how to go about this, what we all realized is that we have to try.
Are there drugs in Whitefish Bay? Absolutely. I am shocked by the number of patients who tell me either they have friends who do drugs or do them themselves. More shocking, it is beginning in middle school. Is Whitefish Bay any different then any other cities? No- drugs are everywhere. So what can we do to try and protect our kids? I am not an addiction specialist, but here are a few of my ideas.
1. Parents are our first line- education must start in the home. Start talking to your kids at an early age in an age appropriate manner. Prepare your kids, especially before entering middle schools, about friends who might pressure them to try new things to make them “feel good.” Encourage them to talk to you or an adult they trust about any questions they have. Question your kids about drugs in their school, and if they are under any pressure to try them. If your child is acting funny, withdrawing from family and friends, doing poorly in school- bring them in for evaluation.
2. Know your kids friends and their families. This becomes much harder to do as the kids enter high school and become more independent. Peer pressure is the number one reason why kids try drugs initially.
3. Schools need to provide more education on drugs. I disagreed with parents tonight who felt like kids are “over educated” on drugs. I think the message is not getting through, so maybe we need to change the avenue in which it is delivered.
4. Know what is in your medicine cabinet and lock it up. PHARM parties are the new trend, and the meds are coming from parents medicine cabinets. PHARM parties are where kids bring in various meds from home, toss them in a pile, and everybody takes some. They can disappear from your cabinet when your child has friend’s over who use your bathroom.
5. Keep your kids busy after school. Idle hands can often find mischief.
6. Tough love. Be loving, be supportive, but be noisy and ask questions of your kids. If a story sounds fishy, follow up on it. If you think they are experimenting with drugs, confront them.
Tonight’s meeting reiterated to me why I love working and living in this community. While we are far from perfect, we care. I truly believe that together we can make a difference.
We have found a few resources that may be helpful as you think of how to handle this at your home.
Talking to your child about drugs
Talking with kids about alcohol and drugs
One Response to “Turning a tragedy”
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March 24th, 2009 at 11:07 am
My son Brandon recently came home from Kindergarten with a “No Smoking” sign that he made in class. What was even better was that he told us (with a very serious tone of voice) about how bad smoking is for people.
I was THRILLED that his school started to address this topic with the 5 year-olds.
As a parent I hope and pray that education, awareness, and open discussions in our home leads to prevention down the road. Talking about the dangers of smoking was really our first step!
Thanks for posting!