WORKSHOP 9 - UNDERSTANDING SUBSTANCE ABUSE

T
his training should be presented by a helping person who knows the realities of local substance abuse issues and can offer timely, effective resources for intervention. An authority figure such as a policeman may not be appropriate, since trainees will sometimes have mixed feelings about police officers in their neighborhood. Again, it is important that the guest respect the role of the Master Teacher as a helper who can make a difference in preventing substance abuse.
WORKSHOP 9 - UNDERSTANDING SUBSTANCE ABUSE Exercise 1: Setting the Agenda

Exercise 2: Guest Speaker Presentation

Exercise 3: Identifying Outside Resources

PROGRAM EVALUATION

MASTER TEACHER PROGRAM - FINAL TRAINING EVALUATION FORM

Background

D
epressed individuals living in long-term poverty are exactly what drug dealers are looking for to keep business going. Discouraged youth, looking for someone who needs them and a place to belong are an easy touch for seduction into the drug trade. The spiritually depressed of any socioeconomic level make great drug customers. Families who have dealt with chronic feelings of oppression associated with isolated environments and barriers to obtaining resources for basic needs are especially vulnerable to the need to escape the realities of life; alcohol and drugs address that need.

P
arents struggle daily, trying to keep their kids from joining the drug trade. With few other opportunities in isolated neighborhoods in the inner-city and rural areas, it's difficult to find ongoing positive activities to keep teens from trouble. Parents warn, threaten, and beg their kids to stay away from drugs. The discouragement of living in poverty and the seduction of the drug bosses, unfortunately, overpower the best intentions of parents.

P
oor kids who want the "right" clothes are great potential recruits for dealing drugs to middle-income customers who drive through poverty neighborhoods. The kids are especially vulnerable as they struggle through the difficult years of junior high school. They see no role models who are earning the kind of money that buys the "right" clothes or car needed to feel important. Many are already stereotyped as problems because of where they live. They want to "belong" somewhere; the most convenient group is the group of drug dealers down the street. Children start early, holding a "bag" for the older dealers. Many are enticed to drug use. They get hooked early and are often forced to sell drugs in order to support their own habit.

L
ots of poor teens are needed for the drug trade. When arrests are made, it's the teens and young adults who go to jail. As long as there is poverty, their bosses who live on site and outside the neighborhood will have little trouble recruiting more. Many recruiters have incredible interpersonal skills, pretending to be a friend, easily seducing the teens to make quick money through doing the dirty work of dealing drugs. When the teens get in trouble, they are abandoned by the bosses. Discouraged by the drug world's dishonesty and distrust, they find no true friends and turn to alcohol or drugs to help them through the day.

N
evertheless, the trainees in the Master Teacher program know that focusing on addressing drug issues through building community can work in most targeted communities. Teens who so desperately need honest, trusted mentors to problem-solve with will set goals toward self-sufficiency if given the chance. The "bosses" will move on as they find their potential dealers busy with more positive activities and groups. With connectedness residents will begin to feel hopeful looking for mutual support rather than drugs and alcohol to deal with difficult issues. Understanding the realities of local drug issues and ways to work on difficult problems will empower Master Teachers to find interventions that work as they build community in their neighborhood.

Goal:

T
o provide a forum for discussing how substance abuse in the targeted neighborhood is affecting families, especially youth. To find ways to address difficult substance abuse issues in the neighborhood.

Objectives:

- To define substance abuse and its causes, and describe specific alcohol and drug use specific in the targeted neighborhood;

- To discuss how local substance abuse is affecting families in the neighborhood;

- To target ways to encourage youth and adults to move away from substance abuse;

- To identify the best local resources available to address individual and community drug issues.

Materials Needed:

R
efreshments, newsprint listing the key issues to be discussed (as listed in the objectives above), flyers and brochures describing quality substance abuse interventions, materials as requested by the guest speaker, Final Training Evaluation Form.

Exercise 1: Setting the Agenda

1. Post the newsprint listing the items to be discussed. (Use the specific objectives to identify the issues.)

2. Encourage the group to stick to the agenda issues as listed on the newsprint. Later meetings will address other concerns.

Exercise 2: Guest Speaker Presentation

1. Introduce the speaker, explaining why this particular person is especially appropriate to address the issues listed.

2. Ask each group member to introduce him/herself. If any member has a specific concern he/she would like to see addressed, have them briefly mention the issue when introduced. Note that there will be time at the end of the meeting for questions.

3. Either hand the meeting over to the guest or begin the information sharing part of the workshop. The first 45 minutes should focus on information sharing. The last 45 minutes should leave plenty of time for sharing and problem- solving.

Exercise 3: Identifying Outside Resources

1. Ask the guest presenter to comment on specific resources he/she views as especially effective. Seek recommendations of resource people who would be willing to answer the trainees' questions should a substance abuse problem arise needing more technical information.

2. Have a resource table set up for this training. Handouts listing specific intervention agencies including drug counseling agencies, detoxification centers, policing agencies with positive track records, high quality youth and media programming teaching about substance abuse issues, and contact persons for specific substance abuse issues are especially important. Encourage the trainees to take information from the resource table for their manuals at the closing of the meeting.

Closing the Meeting

R
emind the group that the last meeting will be time to share and celebrate the moving on to the next phase of the Master Teacher in Family Life Program: the community development phase. Trainees are welcome to bring guests to the graduation (certification depending on the makeup of the group).

PROGRAM EVALUATION

A
sk the group members to take ten minutes to complete the evaluation that covers all nine workshops of the training period. Again, emphasize that the evaluation will help in the planning process.

MASTER TEACHER PROGRAM - FINAL TRAINING EVALUATION FORM

1. Did you understand the material presented at the nine-week sessions? Answer a, b, c, or d to each session listed below.

Session Answer a,b,c or d
Week 1 - Values ----------------------------------------
2 - Listening ----------------------------------------
3 - Problem-solving ----------------------------------------
4 - Human Development ----------------------------------------
5 - Limit-Setting ----------------------------------------
6 - Putting the Program to Work ----------------------------------------
7 - Health ----------------------------------------
8 - Professional Helpers ----------------------------------------
9 - Substance Abuse ----------------------------------------

2. Which was your favorite session?





3. Which sessions will be most helpful when you are helping others in the community?



4. Did the information affect how you deal with problems in your family/community?

Would you like to give an example of where you have changed?



5. Do you feel ready to help others in need of information, skills or support?



6. In what way do you think you can be most helpful as a Master Teacher?



7. What resources do you have available to you that might be helpful to the group?



8. What would you suggest we do to make this program even better?



* Just click the Home Icon to go back to the the main index page *