#substanceuseawareness

Jordan Ellis writes about behavioral health trends, community well-being, and public health awareness across New Jersey. His work focuses on early identification of emerging behavioral patterns, local resource navigation, and accessible science-based health communication for communities across Morris County and surrounding regions.

When families begin noticing several of these changes together, many start looking for information about available treatment options and the admissions process. Learn more about admissions information.

CALL FOR ABSTRACT Submit your presentation the CME/CPD accredited 4th world child adolescent medicine and adolescent health conference from, 21–23 October 2025, in Novotel Al Barsha Dubai, UAE Submit Now: https://child-adolescent-medicine.utilitarianconferences.com/submit-abstract Abstract submission deadline is July 31, 2025 Contact Us: https://wa.me/+971551792927

OUR SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS Submit your abstract the  CME/CPD accredited 4th world child adolescent medicine and adolescent health conference from , 21–23 October 2025, in Novotel Al Barsha Dubai, UAE Submit Now: https://child-adolescent-medicine.utilitarianconferences.com/submit-abstract Abstract submission deadline is July 31, 2025 Contact Us: https://wa.me/+971551792927

With the red ribbon week coming up in a few weeks our team was energetic and excited to meet with the students of the middle schools. with the videos and the posters being ready to be displayed in the schools we started to work on providing every student with some reminder for this event so we came up with an idea to make red bow pins to distribute to the student to symbolize the red ribbon week which could also be used as a memory of the event and a reminder for them to say no to drugs. Apart from the posters and the pins, we wanted to provide them with some resources that the middle schoolers could use in the future that might help them in time of need. Hence, we came with a plan to make brochures with a few facts about opioid addiction, statistics and data on substance abuse, helpline number for substance abuse and mental health services administration (SAMHSA) to seek help and also, we included signs of overdose and first aid for overdose and counseling and assessment services for them to seek help if need. after the completion of the required need for the event, we contacted the school counselor to sort out a few last details such as the number of students and number of participants for the poster contest and the schedule for the red ribbon week and the event. At both, schools the interactive video and the testimony video was played prior to the event. On the day of the event on the 29th of October, we visited the Benson middle school in the morning followed by McGee’s crossroad middle school in the afternoon. The schools have arranged their posters for the poster competition and they were presented on the walls of each homeroom. We were able to judge these posters and score them according to their use of quotes, illustrations, messages they spread, and their usage of the ultimate theme “the red ribbon week” and “Drug-free me looks like me”. There were several amazing posters made by these children which were difficult to judge and select just a few among them but we decided on selecting one for each grade and among them present the winner and two runners-up. These middle schoolers came up with several innovative and unique quotes to make their posters unique and they were able to represent the theme of the competition with unique animations and other visual representations. On the visitation of the results day, all the students in the school were very eager to hear who won. Then the winning classes were presented with a pizza and ice cream party which were a winner among the students. We were able to speak to the student from some classes and get to know their thoughts on this initiative. A lot of the students were already aware of the information on substance abuse and they were very determined to stay away from it. And some who were not aware of the consequences got to learn and pick up a few good things from this event conducted to educate them. With these kinds of initiatives, we wanted to involve the students to be a part of the learning process and get their hands on creating posters by which they will be more informed on the perils of substance use. We later distribute the brochures one in each homeroom, to sum up, all the things they’ve learned with the details on how to help someone they know with facts and helplines. Team angels with JOCO angels we were able to accomplish some of our goals this semester by creating awareness on addiction to these young minds. We would like to sow in the benefits of staying away from drugs and like to let it grow in their minds. We know that a small step is all that is needed to create a big impact in people’s lives especially with a young kid who is going to be the future of this world. I also believe that these initiatives be continued throughout so that even if there is 50 percent of these students learn something from these events then we might a 50 percent more change to reduce substance abuse among teens.

After finalizing the project that we were going to work on for this semester, we started our practicum with event planning. For the past few weeks, our team has been working on spreading awareness about substance use and abuse for middle schoolers. We planned to carry this through conducting a poster contest and a virtual/in-person meet with students or through providing them with videos or testimonials of people in recovery. We started to contact middle schools and high schools in Johnston County to participate in our campaign and described to them the various project ideas we had had for the students to get involved and get educated on the perils of substance use. we started contacting various schools through email and we waited for their acceptance of the program. We were not sure if we would be able to work with school-goers with covid and its restrictions. At last, we were fortunate enough to get in touch with two middle schools for conducting the event at their schools. With only a few weeks left for Red Ribbon Week, our team and the JOCO angels’ team has been working with us to present a project for two middle schools from Johnston County, they are the Benson middle school and the McGee’s crossroad middle school. This event was to bring awareness to them about peer pressure and substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and drugs including prescription medication. We are conducting a two-day meeting with the schools with fun as well as an educative poster contest and a presentation with video demonstration and testimonies to spread this message of “SAY NO TO SUBSTANCE USE”. We have created two posters for students as a model for them for the contest. Apart from this, we have also planned to conduct a pizza and ice-cream party for the student as a part of the red ribbon week. We hope that this small part we play would create positivity among students and promote education on the harmfulness of substance use on their physical and mental health. The first video we have created consists of three scenarios. The first scenario demonstrates peer pressure, smoking, and bullying. The second scenario shows alcohol and drug abuse and also the dangers of underage drinking and the last clip show drug overdose and fear of stigmatization. Each of the scenarios has a question to go with it that students have to identify and at the end of each scenario a message related to the scene will be provided in the form of a presentation. Apart from the presentation students are provided with resources for them to use if they need help. The second video is a testimony from a teenager who has lost their dear ones to substance abuse. The testimony represents how they suffered from mental health issues and issues with fitting into a new place and that it would be easier to become friends with a group of kids who relate to each other only due to smoking or alcohol use to fit in. This testimony also speaks about how important it is to pay attention to our mental health and how important it is to keep our morals intact. During these weeks I have learned and participated in a lot of new things that I have never experienced up until now. Coming from a background with minimum knowledge on substance use I have educated myself on how people cope with substance use through videos and through reading few articles. I have come to know that a lot of the student and people in general who are impacted by the use of substances have had experienced trauma and has turned to the use of substances as a coping mechanism for it. Hope these small projects conducted to educated middle schoolers about the dangers of substances and peer pressure has a positive effect on them to say “NO” to peers and use of substances and to affirm them that they are not alone in the process of realization and recovery.