Keeping our Teens Safe from
Themselves
Presented by: (add presenter name here)
Written by: Alina Baltazar, LMSW, CFLE
Assistant Professor and MSW program director of Social Work
for Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, USA
From Revival and Reformation: Families Reaching Across.
Introduction
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God’s task for parents.
Adolescent growth and change.
Experimentation is common.
Vignette’s:
• Jessica’s story
• Ray’s story
• Jeff’s story
• “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is
old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
• Small group activity:
• What fears do these scenarios bring out in you as a parent?
• Are there things you can do to decrease the chance your
teenagers end up in such horrible circumstances?
Adolescent Substance Use Rates
• Vast majority of 9-12th graders in the US report
drinking alcohol once in their life.
• 90% of youth age 12-20 binge drink alcohol on
multiple occasions in their lifetime (most are college
students).
• Almost half have used marijuana in their lifetime,
about 25% during the last 30 days.
• Almost a quarter have used prescription drugs
without a prescription in their lifetime.
• About 10% have used inhalants in their lifetime.
Power of Communication
• Communicate care
• Stop whatever you are doing and listen.
• Actively, unconditionally listen.
• Listen to their point of view.
• Educate on the dangers of substance use
• Choose a good time to talk.
• Share stories from the news or people you know.
• Make them away of legal issues.
• Communicate clear expectations
• This is especially important when there is limited supervision
or they are away at school.
• Make sure they know what the consequences will be.
• Role-play
• Pair up with someone else and practice what you would say
to your teen about drugs and what behavior you expect.
Then switch roles.
Parental Monitoring
• Parental monitoring and involvement
• Keep prescriptions locked up.
• Discussion question
• What will you do to monitor your teen’s
behavior?
Religiosity
• Decreases substance use.
• “Do you know that your bodies are temples of the Holy
Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from
God? You are not your own; you are bought at a price.
Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians
6:19-20
• Support their spiritual journey.
• Discussion Question:
• What helped your religious development during the teen
years?
• What have you or could you do to support your teen’s
religious development?
Adolescent Suicide Rates
• Third to second leading cause of death for
those age 15-24 in many countries
• For every death there are 20 attempts
• Rates are increasing worldwide.
Suicide Risk Factors
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Family history
Depression
Low self-esteem
Substance use
Impulsiveness
Females more likely to attempt, males more likely to
succeed.
Anxious attachment to parents
Sexual abuse
Lack of supportive friends
Overwhelming loss or stress
Access to a firearm or lethal means.
Bullying
• Get involved when serious or repetitive.
• Approach teacher then principal.
• Get authorities involved if severe.
• Intervention
Suicide Warning Signs
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Giving hints may be want to be around
Talking about feeling hopeless
Isolation
Writing about death
Giving away treasured possessions
Losing interest
Trouble concentrating
Changes in eating or sleeping
Risk-behaviors
Coping Skills
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Support
Healthy lifestyle
Social activity
Relaxation/medication
Positive thinking
Suffer consequences of their own behavior
“Anything that lessons physical strength enfeebles the
mind and makes it less capable of discriminating
between right and wrong. We become less capable of
choosing the good and have less strength of will do
that which we know to be right.” Christ’s Object
Lessons, p.346
• Individual activity: What do you do to cope?
Professional Resources
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Counselors
Medication
Psychiatrist
Inpatient hospitalization
Role-play
• Similar to the role-play communicating about
substances, now practice what you would say about
suicide, then switch roles.
• What situation would prompt you to say
something?
References
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). Alcohol and public health (Fact sheet). Retrieved from
http://www.cdec.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/under-age-drinking.htm.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Trends in the prevalence of alcohol use national YRBS: 1991-2011.
Retrieved from www.cdec.gov/healthyouth/yrbs/pdf/us_alcohol_trend_yrbs.pdf
Cail, J. & LaBrie, J. W. (2010). Disparity between perceived alcohol-related attitudes of parents and peers increases
alcohol risk in college students. Addictive Behavior, 35(2), 135-139.
Compas, B.E., Hinden, B.R., Gerhardt, C. A. (1995). Adolescent development: Pathways and process of risk and
resilience. Annual Review Psychology, 46, 265-293.
Labrie, J.W. & Sessoms, A. (2012). Parents still matter: The role of parental attachment in risky drinking among college
students. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 21(1), 91-104.
Low, N. C. P., Dugas, E., O’Loughlin, E., Rodriguez, D., Contreras, G., Chaiton, M., & O’Loughlin, J. (2012). Common
stressful life events and difficulties are associated with mental health symptoms and substance use in young adolescents.
BMC Psychiatry, 12(116). Retrieved from http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-244X-12-116.pdf.
Pierorazio, D. A. (2009). A reframing of protective factors in the context of risk, adversity, nd competence in adolescents.
Retrieved from http://www.csm.edu/wfdata/files/Academics/Library/InstitutionalRepository/19.pdf
Scales, P.C. & Roehlkepartain, E.C. (2004). Community service and service-learning in U.S. public schools, 2004. Retrieved
from http://www.search-institute.org/system/files/2004G2GCompleteSurvey.pdf
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2013). Respond to bullying. Retrieved from
http://www.stopbullying.gov/respond/index.html.
Werner, E. (2005). Resilience and recovery: Findings from the Kauai longitudinal study. Research Policy, and Practice in
Children’s Mental Health, 19(1), 11-14.
World Health Organization. (2013). Suicide prevention (Fact Sheet). Retrieved from
http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suicideprevent/en/