Dangers of Synthetic Marijuana and What Parents Can Do About It.

Found this recent report about the dangers of Synthetic Marijuana. The number is staggering and hard to believe, but it really shows you how dangerous synthetic marijuana can truly be. Take a look at the link below and discuss the information with your own kids. Hard to imagine that their is a more dangerous form of marijuana, but it looks like synthetic marijuana is that form.

 11,000 go the hospital for synthetic marijuana click here



Now that you have read up on the dangers of synthetic marijuana, now take a look at this recent study/article that shows that parents actually have more influence than schools' own drug education. Seems like a no-brainer, but I am glad to see a research study show that parents can actually steer their own children towards a drug-free life. But the key is open communication. Take a look at the article to learn more.

Parents have Biggest Effect on Kid's Drug Use click here

The Peace Agreement is unveiled at Hartford Upper Elementary!

The fourth and fifth grade students at Hartford Upper Elementary have written a Peace Agreement.   This is our anti-bullying campaign to promote peace and respect in our building.    The students have also made posters exhibiting the different aspects of peace which are important to them.    If you visit Hartford Upper Elementary you will see all the 'PEACE' displayed. :)

Peace Agreement:

We say NO to drugs.

We appreciate freedom.

We appreciate diversity.

We smile.

We stand up for each other.

We let people be themselves.

We don’t laugh at other’s mistakes.

We encourage people.

We treat people with respect.

We help others.

We are the people of Hartford Upper Elementary.

Parents Information Site About Teens, Technology, and the Online World

I came across this website hunting for a technology video and after looking around I realized that it is a pretty good resource for parents. I did not look at everything on the site, but I thought the videos had lots of good topics and were pretty straight forward. Very informative for a parent who may not know what exactly their child is doing with technology or why they are doing it. Then, there is a blog attached to the site where general interest stories are posted. The site really wants to connect teens with parents and bridge the technology gap between the two. Also has some information on bullying and cyberbullying, which is always great! Please click on the two links below, the parts of the website I liked the most!

Teach Parents Technology! (TPT): Videos to teach parents about the technology their teens are using. Click here!

Home page for the parent portion of the website. Great articles and videos here too. Click here!


Website is called A Platform for Good.Org

A Short Video Showing How Small Our Little Earth Actually Is

Not really sure this has much to do with counseling or school, but I just felt I had to post it. Very cool video and really makes you think how small we truly are in our vast universe. I am sure there is a counseling theme in there somewhere, but if not, I hope you simply enjoy this video.

Middle School Kids and Smartphones, a Recent Survey

Catching up on my blog reading, I came across a recent national survey questioning middle schoolers and their cell phone, or more specificially, smart phone use in and outside of school. Personally, I am noticing more and more students pulling out cell phones after the school day is done and more and more of these phones are smart phones. Even my own 8th graders have told me they sometimes complete my email assignments on their phones. We currently do not allow cell phone use in school and during the school day, but I know some middle schools do. With data like this in this survey, smart phone use in schools will only continue to be debated as to whether it should be allowed or not. Please see the survey at the link below.

Middle School Smart Phone Use survey

Mr. Barry Attends Governor's Bully Summit!

  Mr. Barry had the opportunity to attend and be a panelist at this past week's Governor's Bullying Prevention Summit here in Des Moines. It was a great event with a sold out crowd of 1200, nearly half of them students wanting to make a difference. Mr. Barry representing school counselors of Iowa on the Cyberbullying panel. All of the panels and keynote presentations were recorded and broadcast live online. They will soon be posted so anyone can view them at anytime. When this happens, I will post the links so you can see the great information that I got to see when I was there. 

   Biggest thing I learned from the conference was that the problem of bullying is a large and complex problem that will take efforts from everyone to solve it. Not just teachers, but students, parents, community members, everyone. And most of the experts who spoke and even the student experts who spoke, agreed that the group that can have the biggest effect are the students. Solutions to bullying created by and led by the students have the best chance to solve the problem of bullying. In fact, many students from schools all over the state produced videos showing their ideas and these ideas were some of the best ideas I have seen in my years as a counselor. Seeing these student videos and seeing all of the students in attendance at the Summit gives me great hope that we will finally turn the tide with bullying and begin to solve the issue and make all of our schools safe again.

Great Article Explaining the Difference Between "Rude", "Mean" and "Bullying"

  Another counselor sent this article to me this weekend and after reading it, I figured I would post it here as I think it is a pretty good explanation of the differences between kids being rude and mean and kids who are actually bullying. Bullying is a nasty, nasty thing that some kids do. But it does not happen as much as media sometimes portrays it. Knowing the definition of bullying and being able to identify it is one of the first and most important steps in stopping the problem of bullying inside and outside of schools. Please give this article a quick read.

Rude, Mean, and Bullying....the Difference click here!

8th Grader Email Question: What is My Favorite Winter Holiday Tradition or Activity and Why?

Last Week's question was What is/are your favorite Winter Holiday traditions and activites and why? Here are some of the best responses! Happy Holiday to all!

"An activity that my family and I do, is my mom makes this little string of decorated toilet paper rolls.  Then she puts little strips of paper that say something special that we do that day.  Some of them last year were, go ice skating, go to the movies, make cookies, and lots more.  For every day in December there is a roll that has a piece of paper in it that says we get to do something special.  We have been doing this for a few years and it is always somethings to look forward to every year. "

"My favrite winter holiday traditoin is when me and my family gather around the fire and open presents. To me christmas means to just spend time with your family and loved ones."

"Thanksgiving is eating our meal as a big family. We all get together and play games, eat lunch and dinner, and watch TV. We have our whole family come from everywhere and we catch up on each others lives. I love Thsnksgiving because it is the one day that i get to sit and rememebr my great grandpa Reed. We used to do Thanksgiving on his farm and we would go play with the animals and in the barn.  After he died my grandma had to sell the farm, we never went back there and its really sad. So on Thanksgiving we all bring pictures and memories of him and pray for him as a family."

"I love going ice skating during the winter its my favorite winter sport and something I can do reallly well."

"One winter tradition that I really like is every year on Christmas Morning my brother and I wake up really early and get our stockings. then we watch old Christmas cartoons and look at the things in our stockings that aren't wrapped."

"My family tradition is have my birthday & my sisters birthday over Thanksgiving break, because sometimes my birthday falls on thanksgiving and my sisters birthday is just a week later. So we usually just have our birthdays on Thanksgiving."

"Going up to my Grandmas house for Christmas. We have snowball fights outside then go inside for a huge meal. They we either do a puzzle or watch TV or have a Nerf gun fight. After that we open the presents and then have a wrapping paper war. We have to clean it up but its still fun. Then we play with our new things there for a little while and then go home. I really love Christmas because my family gets together."

"My favorite winter activity is putting up the Christmas tree with my whole family. It is just nice to get everyone together after being so busy and just hangout as a whole family and relax."

"My favorite Christmas tradition is Sleeping Under the Christmas Tree. That's when all of the grandchildren go over to my grandma's house somewhere around Christmas. We watch a movie, eat popcorn, sing christmas songs, drink hot cocoa, and go caroling. We don't actually sleep under the tree because we wouldn't all fit. There are 9 grandchildren, but only 6 of us are old enough to do it. We go caroling around my grandma's neighborhood. It's kind of embarassing since I am the oldest, but I still have fun!"

"one of my familys favorite traditions is black friday shopping we always go out early in the morning and shop for christmas presents and other things because of the huge sale!"

"My family has an awesome Halloween party every year and we all get to see each other and spend time with each other. During that party we have a chili contest and I like to taste each one because my family makes the best chili to me."

"My favorite holiday tradition is when we all sit in like a circle and tell jokes around christmas then when we all take turn opening gifts. because, it brings my whole family closer."

New Marijuana Laws a Concern

   I have attached a couple articles from the Partnership for a Drug Free America in regards to concerns about two states that legalized recreational use of marijuana. Federal law still keeps marijuana illegal to sell or consume, but these states have made more and more people think that maybe marijuana is not harmful, including some of our students. But that is simply not the case. Marijuana is extremely harmful and has many negative effects and can cause many negative problems, both immediately and long term. The biggest concern I have heard locally is the belief that marijuana does not impair driving like alcohol does. And this is simply not true! But if students believe that and they smoke marijuana and then operate a vehicle, they are in control of a dangerous weapon, or sadly, not in control of it. More education will be needed on this topic with both teens and adults in our community and across the country. Please read the articles below as they have some great information about the dangers of marijuana usage, especially when paired with driving a vehicle.


Marijuana-related Car Crashes click here

DUI More Likely to Involve Drugs than Alcohol

Power of Drug Addiction is Tough to Overcome

Another KCCI story from today about a former Des Moines police officer whose life is very different today than it was just a year or two ago. All because of a drug addiction to marijuana and methamphetamine. Even after given a generous 2nd chance, the power of addiction was too much. Unfortunately, his life is going to change even more, but hopefully this change will help him finally beat this addiction. But for any teens thinking trying drugs "just once' is okay, for Mr. Singleton, "just once' was one time too many.

Click to watch video

Six Iowa Teens Charged in Sexting Case

  KCCI reported on a story today about some Iowa teens who were arrested and charged in a "sexting" case. Just another reminder that what some teens think is a harmless or funny thing to do with a cell phone, can be damaging and embarrassing for the victim, but also be against the law for the teens who send the picture message. I see stories like this from Iowa once or twice a year and it is a good reminder for our own teens to not only think before they speak, but also think before they send.

Click here to read the story.

8th Grade Email Answers: What am I Thankful for and Why?

When 8th graders were asked this week "What am I Thankful for and Why?", here are some of the best responses via email from this great group. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

"Im thankful for EVERYTHING in my life. My mom got my family into horses, my horses taught me how to ride, my trainer helped me get my dream to come true, and my dad is there for support and to help pay:) . I love having all the wonderful teachers that help me in all my classes at school. And of course to Jesus who had all this planned.

 I love my life."

" I am thankful most of all for my family. They are the reason I am who I am today, and why I have everything I have. I am pretty proud to call them my family. Sometimes we fight but we never can stay mad at eachother. I love them very much and wouldn't be here if it weren't for them."

"I'm thankful for my family, the roof above my head in school and at home. One thing at school that I'm thankful for Miss.Grieme i love the way she talks to us face to face."

"I am thankful for my parents and the roof(s) they put over my head, the food they put on the table, and the clothes they buy for me. I am thankful for their love. I am also thankful for my grandma who was the number one person who taught me my faith, which I am also thankful for. I am thankful for my sisters, even though I don't always show it. I'm also thankful that I have the opportunity to get a good education."

"I am thankful for my family and friends. They help me when I need it. They pick me up when I am having a bad day. I am so grateful to live where I do. This place has made me who I am today. I am thankful for my school and for the teachers that help me. Thank you!"

"I am thankful for so much in my life!  I have every meal of the day unless I choose not to. Not many people in the world can say that. I'm also thankful for my family. I am thankful for them because they care about me and support me in whatever I do. I think the main reason I'm so thankful for my family is because we love each other even when the world doesn't. I wouldn't be the person I am today without my family."

" I am thankful for my family and friends. I know that some people don't have that luxury and I am happy I do." 

The Peace Project: a way of countering bullying

Through the Guidance class, the students of Hartford Upper Elementary have been involved with a Peace Project.   We have been writing a peace agreement and focusing on skills which promote peace.    A survey we gave the students showed a small amount of bullying occurring in our school.    We decided the best way of addressing it was to promote more of what we want.....peace, respect, kindness, and responsibility.   We are also learning skills for dealing with aggression, bullying, and disrespect in an assertive way.    If you have any questions, please call! :)

High School Food Drive

Starting on November 7th, Carlisle High School students and staff will be collecting food and other necessities to help stock our local food pantry.  To make it fun, each grade level and the staff have a goal based on each person bringing in four items.  If the students in a grade reach their goal, they will get to pie a teacher in the face (meaning four teachers could get pied)!  Likewise, if the teachers reach their goal, we get to pie a student in the face!  Our overall goal is 2,512 items.

There are several items that are seriously needed to support local families during these tough economic times.  These include:  soup, cereal, canned fruit, shampoo, soap, toothpaste, kleenex, and toilet paper.  Some items that are NOT needed at this time include:  canned vegetables, ramen noodles, or baby food.  Remember- everything donated will benefit families in our community!

Ms. Hillebrand and the CHS student council are the sponsors of this event.  All donated items can be brought in to Ms. Hillebrand and identified by grade level (so it counts toward the grade level donation).  Donations are being accepted until November 16th!

If you or someone you know needs help acquiring food or other necessities, please contact Deb Moeller at 515-989-0365 (Carlisle Food Pantry) or the Warren County Necessity Pantry at 515-961-1074.

Hartford Needs Assessment

Energy Drinks Now Being Investigated by FDA

 

     Students were very interesting in talking about Energy Drinks and their possible negative effects during Red Ribbon Week. When we noted that caffeine is a drug, a legal drug, but a drug nonetheless, students were interested in how large amounts of caffeine in energy drinks could affect a young person. Some people even brought up a story that I had also recently heard on the radio. The story of a 14-year old who died of cardiac arrest after consuming 2 full 24-oz. cans of Monster Energy Drink. That is A LOT OF CAFFEINE! But is a deadly amount? That is what the FDA is investigating as this is the 5th death that has come immediately after consuming an energy drink or large amounts of energy drinks. I told the students that we would have to wait and see what the investigation shows, but I have always believed that caffeine should be limited, especially in young people. I noted that pregnant women are not supposed to consume any caffeine as it can have negative effects on the growing baby. This means no chocolate, tea, pop, or coffee. Some women still do, but it is important to note that caffeine has proved to have negative effects. And once upon a time, young children/teens were not supposed to consume caffeine either or have very little due to possible negative effects. Now, it is not uncommon to see kids finishing their first or second cup of coffee or first bottle of pop as they walk into school....in the morning! I have a feeling that caffeine has had more of an effect than we may ever really know, but what long-term effects it truly has may be tough to prove. Either way, this is a good reminder that caffeine is an addicting drug and does have some negative effects and should truly be limited, especially in young people. Here are two of the more recent studies and articles about this topic from the Partnership for a Drug Free America.

Some Energy Drinks Mislabeling Their Caffeine Amounts click here

FDA Investigating Energy Drinks and Possible Deaths Due to Energy Drinks click here!

More Recent Updates from Partnership for a Drug Free America

  As I do every once in awhile, I have posted some of the more interesting and important blog posts from the last few weeks at the Partnership for a Drug Free America website/blog. Please take a look at the summaries below and click on the article link to learn more. Most articles are very short but contain some really good information that may be helpful to parents and students in our community. Thanks for reading!

Amount of Sleep Affects Sports Injuries click here! At Carlisle, we have a lot of students involved in sports and many spend several hours a day doing their sporting activity. This new study evaluated all sorts of factors and how they may affect injury rates and one of only the few factors that showed they may cause more injuries was lack of sleep. And in talking with many middle school students, I realize that several middle schoolers get less sleep than recommended for their age (8-9 hours a night). After reading this, I encourage you to talk more with your own children, maybe do more research, and make sure they have undistracted sleep (get those electronics out of their room!!)

California Suicide Prevention Websites Helps Everyone click here!  Great site with lots of information about suicide and suicide prevention. It will be a nice resource for me, but a great resource for any family or student who feels they may be at risk of suicide or having suicidal thoughts.

Bath Salts Causing Maine Parents to Give Up Their Children click here!  We see more and more news stories about these synthetic drugs and their effects. This effect, the effect of foster families increasing because parents are getting addicted to bath salts and not caring for their kids anymore, is maybe one of the saddest effects I have seen. Shows you the true damage to person, family, and society these "supposedly harmless" synthetic drugs are actually causing.

Prescription Drug Abuse on the Rise and Teens/Young Adults Causing It click here!  Prescription drug abuse continues to be the fastest rising drug abuse in our country. Easy to get for both adults and teens and found in almost every home. And it is being abused more and more everyday. This article shows a study that shows teens/adults from age 15-27 is the biggest population driving this phenomenon. Protect your medications and pay attention to how many you have and where they are!

Carlisle Counselors Now on Facebook

    The Carlisle counseling staff have made another new effort to communicate more with our students, staff, and community by launching a Facebook page for our Carlisle Counseling Program. A special thank you to Rhonda Ray and Julie Nation, our two Carlisle Elementary counselors, for creating and launching this page. We hope to be able to post quick updates as to what is going on in each building throughout the year, as well as posting links to helpful community information, local and national news stories in the areas of mental and physical health, and opportunities and resources for our students and their families. If you are currently a Facebook member, please like our page by searching "Carlisle Counseling Program". You can also try clicking this link:

  Just a reminder that our counselors also communicate through this blog and our high school counselors can also be found on Twitter at @2CHScounselors    They post many announcements and opportunities, especially when it comes to scholarships and college reps who may be visiting.

  Thank you for your continued support and involvement. And of course, please interact and feel free to contact us through these online sources as well!

   

Parenting Needs Assessment

We are asking for your help!  The Carlisle Counseling team would like your input into issues that you see and hear from your students.  Please take a couple minutes to fill out the following survey.  If you have a specific issue you would like to address, please contact your counselor.  Thanks!

Red Ribbon Week Next Week, But Wear Red This Friday!

Although Red Ribbon Week starts next week, at Carlisle we like to "kick" it off a little early. Red Ribbon Week has a tradition of wearing red on Friday, but we do not have school next Friday. So we are asking our students, faculty, parents, and community to wear red THIS Friday, October 19th to get us off to a good start. Since we are playing our rival Norwalk in the regular season football finale, this is another great reason to wear red on Friday. If you are wondering what Red Ribbon Week is, here is a little blurb we put in the Wildcat Weekly this week:




KICKOFF RED RIBBON WEEK
Red Ribbon Week is being celebrated October 23rd– October 31st. As a kickoff to Red Ribbon Week we would like all students, teachers, and community members to WEAR RED on Friday, October 19th. The Carlisle High School Students Taking Action Not Drugs (STAND) group will be conducting activities throughout the week to spread awareness about the harmful effects of substance use to students in the district. This year’s theme is “PAWS-itively Drug Free.”



Red Ribbon Week was originally created to honor the memory of U.S. Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, who gave his life in the fight against drugs. He was killed after discovering a multibillion dollar drug ring in Mexico that slipped drugs over the border and had a history of violent encounters. The week has since evolved into a country-wide week dedicated to preventing drug use and showing the pledge that many 
students have taken to stay drug free. 


Red Ribbon Week Website for more information

Updates from Partnership from a Drug-Free America

It has been awhile (swamped to start the year!) since I posted the best of the best blog posts from Partnership for a Drug Free America. I actually read and skimmed about 50 blog posts they have posted over the last 3-4 weeks, but am only posting links to about a half dozen below. If you do any online reading, I would recommend their blog as they post often and usually have some good information for both parents and students. Please take a look at the articles below and click on the link if it sounds interesting or useful to you.

Partnership for a Drug Free America home site click here!

Illicit drug use down in cities, but prescription drug abuse up. Click here to read more!
---This article is just one of many that shows how prescription drugs could be one of the biggest drug threats to adults and teens in our country. Easy access but very dangerous.

American "Medicine Chest" Challenge. Click here!
---Now that you know prescription drugs are a problem, how can you help prevent the abuse of these drugs by people in your home.

Authoritative Mothers help reduce risky teenage behavior with drugs/alcohol click here!
---Seems like a "no-duh" comment, but does reinforce the importance of having set rules and boundaries and not being afraid to have strict rules with teenage children.

Smoking in adolescence could lead to an earlier death click here!
---Some kids smoke during their teenage years and some even continue in college and think that no real harm was done. But this study shows a different story.

Finally, some good news. Drinking and Driving numbers are drastically down. Some great stats and figures in this article. Click here!

6th, 8th, and 11th Graders to Take Iowa Youth Survey

Students in grades 6, 8, and 11 will be taking the Iowa Youth Survey over the next week or so. This survey is taken by all Iowa 6th, 8th, and 11th graders every two years. It is a comprehensive survey that anonymously gathers data on the current beliefs, values, and attitudes of our students. It will question students on their experiences with alcohol, drugs, aggression, school, etc. as well as their thoughts on these topics. The data takes about 6-9 months to tabulate and send out to the school districts. Sometime during the summer, we get the information back and we can start looking at the data and making decisions about how we can use the data to better our school, community, and county. Everyone from our counselors to our police department to Warren County health services use this data every two years to drive our decisions. Students can opt out of the survey, but the more students that take the survey, the more accurate picture we get. And the more accurate the picture, the better we can serve our students and community. If you have questions or concerns about this survey, please contact a counselor in either our middle school or our high school.

6th Graders Learning About Their Personality, Their Career Interests, Etc.

Our 6th graders will follow up the video and in-video survey from last week by taking 2 online surveys this week to learn more about their interests, their personality, and possible careers that match this new information. I have placed links for the surveys below for the students to click on and take. But if you are visiting this site, feel free to take them as well to learn more about yourself!

My Next Move Career/Personality Test #1

Personality Test #2

Updates from "Partnership for a Drug Free America" Blog

As I get caught up on my blog reading again, I ran across several good and interesting articles on the Partnership for a Drug Free America blog. I have placed the blog links below. Please click on them and give them a read if the topic interests you. Also, consider following the Partnership for a Drug Free America blog as it routinely has great information and updates nearly daily.

Empowering Youth to Prevent Underage Drinking click here. This article talks about how all of the stats about teens doing drugs or drinking alcohol doesn't always remind you that because the percentages are low, that means the majority of students are doing the right thing and making the right choices. Give this article a quick read to see how students can be the solution to the problem of teens using and abusing drugs and alcohol.

American Smokers Using Less Cigarettes click here. Good news about cigarette smoking in the United States.

Teens Struggle with Quitting Smoking click here. Even though the article above is good news, this article shows you how powerful the addiction to cigarettes can be, especially in teens. Cigarettes simply can't be something you experiment with as you can get hooked and addicted with just one puff.

Drug Known as "Smiles" Being Linked to Hollywood Death

Michael Wenger, a Prevention Specialist here in Warren County and an active leader and member of Warren County's STOP group sends out great information to those on his email list throughout the year. I just received the 2nd or 3rd email in the past week talking about the dangers of a new synthetic drug and this time the damage is making national news due to its role in a celebrity death and possible murder. Please see the article below to hear about the real dangers of this "nice" sounding synthetic drug.

'Smiles': New street drug tied to 'Sons of Anarchy' death

Matt Carr / Getty Images file

Actor Johnny Lewis, 28, who starred in the series "Sons of Anarchy."

By Brian Alexander, NBC News Contributor

Johnny Lewis, an actor in the popular “Sons of Anarchy” motorcycle-gang cable drama, died early Wednesday in Los Angeles, suspected of killing his 81-year-old former landlord, Catherine Davis, and possibly himself.

Police think the 28-year-old rising star, who played Kip 'Half-sack' Epps on the FX show, may have been under the influence of a drug few have heard of, a substance known informally as “Smiles.”

It’s part of a new wave of synthetic drugs finding their way onto America’s streets and into its clubs. With the chemical name 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenethylamine, it is known by drug agents and chemists as 2C-I, part of a closely-related family of “2C” drugs.

While Smiles may seem obscure, it’s already done damage, and not just in drug-hip Hollywood.

When 18-year-old Adam Budge of East Grand Forks, Minn., gave a derivative of the Smiles drug to his buddy, 17-year-old Elijah Stai, of nearby Park Rapids this year, Stai wound up dead. The drug was supposed to be a cheap, harmless high. But within an hour of mixing the powder into some chocolate and eating it, Stai was convulsing, hallucinating, and eventually stopped breathing. Now Budge faces charges that could put him in prison for many years.

But what is Smiles?

Like all the 2C drugs, it’s a psychoactive, hallucinogenic chemical that alter the brain’s balance of dopamine and serotonin. Smiles is particularly powerful, binding to serotonin receptors in the brain at 20 times the rate of another drug used in schizophrenia research, according to an experiment performed by Purdue University chemists.

The effects of 2C-I, like those of LSD, can last up to eight hours. But because the effects can take time to appear, users may think they haven’t taken enough to get the desired high, and so take more, risking overdose.

The drug can be taken as small tablets, on pieces of blotter paper like LSD, or in powder form, often mixed with something else, like chocolate.

In June, as part of a Substances Control Act overhaul, Congress made 2C-I a schedule I drug -- highly restricted, like methamphetamine. But, explained Drug Enforcement Administration spokesperson Rusty Payne, trying to get government arms around these new drugs is “like playing whack-a-mole. There are just so many emerging chemicals.”

Labs, often located in Europe or Asia, can use legal, common chemicals to produce huge batches of the drugs. Once one formulation is discovered, and banned, all the chemists have to do is slightly alter the structure of the molecules to create another, potentially legal, substitute until that one is banned.

There is no known geographic hot spot for the 2C drugs, unlike, say, methamphetamine, which became known as a rural, small-town problem. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration believes that most, if not all, the 2C drugs are being imported to the country, not made domestically.

Often, Payne said, teens rationalize the use of the drugs because they think, or are told, that it’s legal and if it’s legal, it’s safe. Another problem is that users often think they’re taking something else.

“We are getting so many calls because people are dying abusing chemicals that nobody ever heard of,” Payne said. “They’re told it’s harmless. If you can just go buy it somewhere, or on the internet, then it must be safe, but nothing could be further from the truth.”

Users aren’t the only ones who are often in the dark. According to Payne, even the DEA’s own agents are behind the curve when it comes to designer synthetics.

“It’s tough for our agents to stay up to date,” he explained. “Chemicals that used to take years to synthesize now take months. And many chemicals are diverted” from legal uses to illicit ones.

Chemical and pharmacologic research appears in journals, is posted online, and becomes easily available to all. That is often a good thing, but it also allows rogue chemists to use the science to create new analogs of drugs like 2C-I.

The drug “Spice,” for example, which made headlines over the past two years as a marijuana substitute, began as a research project by a Clemson chemist named John W. Huffman. He was doing the research under the auspices of the National Institute for Drug Abuse.

“This synthetic stuff is the new frontier of drugs,” Payne said.

Brian Alexander (www.BrianRAlexander.com) is co-author, with Larry Young Ph.D., of "The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex and the Science of Attraction," (www.TheChemistryBetweenUs.com), now on sale.

Stomp Out Bullying Day: Monday, October 1st

     We are asking staff, students, and community to wear blue on Monday, October 1st, to show our united effort to stomp out bullying in our schools and community. In fact, we will use the whole week to raise awareness about the problem of bullying and the long term and possibly deadly effects bullying can have on a young person. Our district counseling staff has been and will continue to get data from students, staff, and parents by using surveys. This data will not only include questions about bullying, but questions about a wide-range of needs a student, staff member, or family member may have. As a team, we then review this data and fine tune our plan to address these needs. With a problem like bullying, counselors and teachers cannot solve it on their own. We need the help of students and families as well. Mr. Barry and Ms. Flagor went to a special showing of the much-talked about documentary "Bully" this summer and participated in an hour-long post-movie conversation. The last statement, made by a high school, student really drove home the issue and solution of bullying. She said "Teachers can try all they can. Parents can try all they can. People can make laws and rules and hang up signs and have special days. But in the end, the solution to bullying is with the students. Students must step up and say this isn't right and bullying is a terrible thing. Students listen to students. So when students start sticking up for each other, only then can we truly solve the issue of bullying." I believe she is right. We can all make a difference, but we all need to plant the seed in a child's head about how terrible bullying can be and teach them strategies to avoid being bullied and how to stick up for others who are being bullied. And then we just hope that seed grows and spreads among all students. So, please wear blue on Monday, October 1st and show your support for our efforts in Stomping Out Bullying. Please see the websites below for more information.

 Stomp Out Bullying website

Stop Bullying.gov

CHS Student Needs Assessment

All 9-12 graders will be taking the survey that you see below during Language Classes.  Please do not answer the survey unless you are a 9-12 grader. This data will be used to better help Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Heidemann understand what the students of CHS need from us.  Thanks!

8th Graders Email Question of the Week: What Does it Mean to be a Role Model?

My 8th graders are asked to email me their answer to my class question of the week. Each student is required to answer one question each quarter. Each week, I will post some of the best email answers I receive. Below are three of the best answers I received for the question "What does it mean to be a role model?"


  "A role model to me is someone that you can look up to and will give you advice when nessesary. A role model can really be anyone that you look up to. It can be a celebrity, a teacher, it can even be a parent."


    "I feel as if a role model is someone you can look up to, whether or not it is bad or good. Good role models are people that set a good example and have somethign you can aspire to be, where as a bad role model either has achieved something you could not even hope to achieve or do and have bad "habits"." 


     "A role model to me is someone who strives, and may fail, to be a good example. They strive for excellence. Role models treat people nicely, no matter how weird or odd they are. They don't see themselves as better than anyone. All in all, role models are just nice, fun people. I think everyone should strive to be a role model because someone is always watching."

As Suicide Prevention Awareness Week Comes to a Close, Bring Someone Out of the Darkness

Short and simple video that has nothing to do with Suicide Prevention Awareness, just a great invention that is helping people enjoy a simple luxury: light in their house. But wait....does this have meaning to Suicide Prevention Awareness Week? I think so. I think we can all do something simple to provide light in people's life. I think we can seek people out who live in darkness and help them. And I don't think it takes a special person or a genius mind, I think it just takes a small amount of time to find someone who is in a dark place and try to help them see the light. We can all help be a part of the solution. Have a great weekend!

This Week is National Suicide Prevention Week

 

       This week is National Suicide Prevention Week in our country. Our recent local data on the Iowa Youth Survey shows that we have anywhere from 5-12% or our middle school students thinking about suicide, making a plan to commit suicide, or even attempting suicide. At the high school, those numbers rise to near 19% in some cases. That means 1 in 5 of our high school age students have had suicidal thoughts! If that is not scary enough, state and national averages are very similar. As a counselor, it is sad and downright scary to think that a handful of kids that walk into my classroom every class period could be contemplating suicide. This is a problem affecting our teens today. But it is not just affecting teens, it is affecting adults. Adults who have lost their job, going through family splits, and especially adults returning from active duty in combat. This is a great week for all of us to re-focus on each other and reach out to someone who is in need. People who are contemplating suicide typically do not reach out for help. They feel hopeless (Hopelessness is the #1 cause/symptom of suicidal ideation) so they will not seek help. We need to seek them. We need to help them. We need to give them hope. Only then can we start lowering those scary percentages listed earlier in this post. So please keep your eyes, ears, and hearts open this week and every week for those who need a lift. And please try to provide that lift or help them find the help they need. I have placed a link below with TONS of resources and information about suicide such as warning signs, support numbers and groups, and what the common person can do to help. Please click the link and educate yourself so that you can be part of the solution. Thank you!

Suicide prevention Week information and resources

----Lots of information on the website above, but I did want to copy/paste information from one part of the website showing you just how severe the problem is and why we need to work to prevent this from happening. See information below.

Scope of the problem

Suicide occurs when a person ends his or her life. It is the 10th leading cause of death among Americans. But suicide deaths are only part of the problem.  Suicide attempts impact a larger population—more individuals survive suicide attempts than die. And they are often seriously injured and in need of medical care.

Suicide Deaths in the United States

• There are far more suicides each year than homicides. In fact, in 2009, the number of suicides was  about twice that of homicides.
• More than  36,000 people kill themselves each year.

Suicide Attempts in the United States

• There are an estimated 12 attempted suicides for every one suicide death.
• More than 374,500 people with self-inflicted injuries are treated in emergency rooms each year.
• More than 163,000 people are hospitalized each year due to self-inflicted injury.

Age Group Differences

• Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 25- to 34-year olds and the third leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year olds.
• Suicide among 45- to 54-year-olds is a growing problem; the rate of suicide is higher in this age group than in any other.
• Although older adults engage in suicide attempts less than those in other age groups, they have a higher rate of death by suicide.  Over the age of 65, there is one estimated suicide for every 4 attempted suicides compared to 1 suicide for every 100-200 attempts among youth and young adults ages 15-24.

Gender Disparities

• Men die by suicide four times as often as women and represent 78.8% of all U.S. suicides.
• Women attempt suicide two to three times as often as men.
• Suicide rates for males are highest among those aged 75 and older.
• Suicide rates for females are highest among those aged 45-54.
• Firearms are the most commonly used method of suicide among males.
• Poisoning is the most common method of suicide for females.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities

• The highest suicide rates are among American Indian/Alaskan Natives and Non-Hispanic Whites.
• Asian/Pacific Islanders have the lowest suicide rates among males while Non-Hispanic Blacks have the lowest suicide rate among females.

Warren County Health and Safety Fair Thursday, September 13th!

If you read the weekly Carlisle District information in the Wildcat Weekly, you might have noticed this. But it was buried pretty deep, so I wanted to repost it on this blog for those who missed it. Please note the information below. If you can make it, it looks like a great event for families. Spread the word!



WARREN COUNTY HEALTH AND SAFETY FAIR
The Warren County Health and Safety Fair will be held on Thursday, September 13th
from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the Indianola Courthouse Lawn.  Please join us for the following:  

*Fire Safe house presented by Indianola Fire Dept.
*Face Painting
*Free giveaways
*Various health and safety vendors
*Fun activities for kids

*The Iowa State Patrol will sponsor a bike safety rodeo at this time.  Your child(ren) can bring their bicycle and take advanatage of the following:
--Bike safety check
--Skills test on a bike-safety obstacle course
--Free t-shirt 

JC Penneys to Offer Free Haircuts Every Sunday!

   Just wanted to give everyone a heads up about a new promotion that JC Penney's stores are doing. Well, they have done it in the past to help kids get ready for school, but now they are doing it every Sunday for kids. FREE HAIRCUTS!! In this day and age, not much is free anymore, so this is a great bonus and I hope it can help out families that might need this free service. Please click on the article below to read more and notice that the promotion will not start up until November. Hope some of you can use it!

JC Penney's free haircut Sundays click here!

The Recruiters are Coming!!!

It's that time of year again!  College and military recruiters will soon be visiting the Counseling office at the High School.  Visiting with recruiters is a great way to find out information about a college.  Juniors and Seniors are invited to come meet with recruiters, just get a pass from either of the Counselors.  Here's a list of upcoming recruiters:
9/13- University of Iowa 11am
9/20- Drake University 9am
9/20- Marines (available during lunch in the commons)
9/25- Iowa Central Community College 10am
9/27- Indian Hills Community College 11am
9/27- Avila University 1:30pm
9/27- Coe College 2pm
10/1- Truman State 1pm
10/4- Iowa Wesleyan 9am
10/4- Buena Vista University 2pm
10/5- Simpson College 1pm
10/18- Northwest Missouri State 11am
10/23- Aveda Institute 9am
10/24- Hawkeye Community College 10:30am

Also- if you want to find out about a lot of different colleges in one place, check out the local college fairs.  The Golden Circle College Fair hosts over 150 different schools at HyVee Hall on Sunday, September 30th from 12:30-3. Looking for a Christian College?  Check out the Christian College Fair on Monday, October 1st from 6:30-8:30 at the Des Moines Christian School.

Happy hunting!

Autism and Bullying, a CNN story

   Thank you to a middle school parent who emailed me a CNN article about students with autism and the higher likelihood of those students being targets and victims of school bullying. Please click on the link below to read the article in full and as a parent or reader of this blog, feel free to email me anytime with stories, information, etc. that you think I might be interested in or that readers of this blog might be interested in.

    As for the article, I have done some research on this and took a class last spring that gave me similar information. And it is not just autism, but also Asperger's, some learning disorders, and students with ADD/ADHD. These students may appear just like any other student, but may have some different behaviors. And middle school kids sometimes struggle with students who look like them, but don't act like them. They cannot always process this difference as just a normal difference in life and this can translate into teasing, or possibly worse like bullying. Like I said above, click this article to read more about this issue. Thanks!



 CNN article about Autism and Bullying click here!

Bullying: What is It? What Isn't It? How Has it Changed in a Generation? And How Can it be Stopped?

  Quite a mouthful, huh? Since we are beginning another year of school, I wanted to write a blogpost that covered everything I could think of about bullying, or at least the main points since Bullying is such a large topic, full length books don't even cover it all. But as a counselor, I think the most important points to hit are the ones in this post's title:

• What is Bullying?
• What is Not Bullying?
• How Has Bullying Changed Since We Were Kids?
• How Can Bullying be Stopped or Limited?

    So, first of all, what is Bullying? Here is a pretty standard and accepted definition:

•     Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems. (StopBullying.gov)

   It goes on to say that the behavior must be aggressive, have an imbalance of power, and be repetitive or potential to be repetitive. What I look for to categorize bullying is if the target is affected negatively at the moment and in an extended time period afterwards, is their a threat for more bullying behavior to occur, and how long has this gone on? Middle School is one of the worst areas for bullying behavior because kids are bigger and there is a lot of social power being thrown around. The kids are just discovering themselves and are not very mature about their actions and behaviors. Elementary and High School can have issues as well, but lack of maturity, or finally having some maturity, seem to keep the bullying behaviors at a lower level. Our data shows 7th grade seems to be the peak year. I work with many students after they get into a fight, are in the middle of some friendship drama, or are having a tough time fitting in. But none of these issues are automatically bullying issues, because the repetition and the affects are what is key. But if that same student is seeing me daily or weekly for the same issue and it is not getting better, now we are likely talking about a bullying issue, especially if it is causing the target to have issues in other parts of their life (education, attendance, home, behaviors, etc.)

  So, what is not Bullying then? 

   Well, honestly, most stuff that happens in a school is not bullying. The word "bully" gets thrown around a lot, but not often does an issue classify as a bullying issue. We don't have many fights in our school, but almost all of them are just kids having a bad day or getting caught up in the moment. Very rarely are they a bullying issue. In fact, most bullies prefer to not be physical because it is too easy to be caught. True bullies are very good with persuasion, negative words, and generally bothering you without ever touching you. I always tell students that bullies will sometimes mess with you enough that you will hurt yourself, so they don't have to. Sad, but true. Teasing is pretty normal and pretty common in school. Sadly, so are rumors. But what I have found is that teasing is usually between friends or 'somewhat' friends and the rumors usually die out after a day or two and a new rumor about a different student is active. This is life and has gone on since the dawn of time. Doesn't mean we don't still try to deal with it and there may even still be consequences, but these issues still don't classify as bullying behavior. They can turn into that if they persist day after day and are repetitive and a pattern of teasing/rumors forms. Also, if the effects on the target are severe and affect their well-being here at school on a day-to-day basis, now we could have a bullying issue. But generally, hundreds of issues pop up every day. Sometimes none of those are bullying issues, just teens being teens and some being too mean. Hopefully, I, as the counselor, can work with the students to clear those issues up. 

   So if Bullying issues are only a small part of the school day, why all the talk? Bullies were around when I was young, what has changed?

   Great question....a lot has changed! The biggest changes I see are these two:

• Technology makes bullying 24/7
• Exposure to Media means kids have more mature experiences yet still immature in thinking

    What this means is when we were young and people were mean, it was all better for the most part at 3:30 when we got home. Mom or Dad made us some milk and cookies, we cried a bit, and then we went to bed happy. Not so today. That same teen today goes home and likely gets 10 text messages on the way home, possibly all of them reinforcing the mean comments he/she heard during the day. Then, they log into their facebook account to play a game to get away from it all and their wall has been bombarded with hateful words and images. Parents might be working and their school friends and staff are at their own homes. This leaves our young teen brain alone with negative thoughts. Things can escalate very quickly, especially if the teen tries to respond to the comments, and very soon we could have a crisis situation. In my "former life" as a science teacher at our high school, one scary fact I remember is that the last part of the brain to develop is problem solving and long-term planning/logic. This doesn't develop fully until almost age 20. So, our young teen brain is getting bombarded with hateful messages without the ability to properly problem solve and think "Ignore. Block. Delete. Don't listen to them. Listen to Music. Life will get better. You have friends. You have family. Etc." So when we used to get away from bullying by literally getting away, today's teen cannot. And before you say "Just don't let them have a phone or use Facebook", be careful. That is punishing the target and not letting them develop coping and problem-solving skills they will need when life gets even tougher. Teens are social beings and one of the biggest social activities and ways to stay connected is social networks, cell phones, and texting. Take these away and your child could be even more damaged then they were when they were being bullied. But, limits to these help and knowing skills like blocking, ignoring, and deleting, as well as printing and saving the online posts for evidence work great. I knew one student who got mean and hateful texts all through the night and was up all night getting these texts. A simple suggestion of turning off his phone at night or leaving it in the kitchen could have fixed that. But to convince this teen to get away from a social connection like their phone for even the bedtime hours took some convincing!

    And as to the other point, our kids today get exposed to violent, mature images, words, concepts all the time. Even when we limit them, they still get it in one form or another. And again, their brain can't process all of this, so they truly do not understand how hurtful some of these words or actions can be. It doesn't always hurt when they hear or see them on TV, so why would it in real life? 24/7 media via Internet, cable/satellite TV, and the radio keeps pushing these things to the kids and some of it then gets pushed on each other in the heat of the moment. 

  Wow....so how do we stop Bullying?

  Well, I don't think it can truly be stopped, but it can be prevented as much as possible. It takes EVERYONE's help though. A counselor can work with both bullies and targets to give them skills so it doesn't happen again. Parents can monitor their child's phone and social network some and yet still respect their privacy. Parents, teachers, and any adults can model correct behavior and understand that if a child/teen sees parents fight in an unhealthy manner (name-calling, aggression, etc), adults yelling at the opposing team or the umpires, or adults bad-mouthing each other (even in politics!!), that a child/teen will learn from this and learn it is acceptable behavior. Even if deep down we all know it should not be acceptable. But when I went to watch the Bully movie and stayed for the hour-long discussion afterwards, the best solution was given by a student at the very end of our discussion. She said "We can all talk about stopping bullying. We can make signs. Adults can try their best to monitor their teens. And we can even make laws. But honestly, it is up to the teens themselves. They are the ones that have to stand up for each other and say Bullying is not right and is not acceptable. Only then will we truly make a difference because teens listen to teens." That might have been one of the bigger ovations I have heard in some time. She was right. She was so right! But....we must all still work together and do our part and get the teens talking about this and spreading the message that Bullying is not normal, teen behavior....it is hateful, mean behavior that can have long-lasting effects. And if we can't stop it, we must work together to limit it.

Phew....that was a long post, at least for me. I have many more ideas on Bullying and will be studying it a lot this year, especially Cyberbullying. I am presenting at the Iowa School Counselors Association Conference in November on the topic of Bullying. I will also be on a panel at the first ever Bullying Prevention Summit in Des Moines at the end of November. Both exciting opportunities. I may also be doing some speaking at some coaching meetings and classes for the state on the idea/topic of bullying in sports. Gonig to be a busy year, but I know a couple things are guaranteed. We will have some bullying issues in our middle school this year (every school has these) and we will have some that are not. But I will work with our staff and students to see if we can resolve each one all while doing some school-wide Bullying Prevention educational ideas as well. Thank you for reading!!

Revisiting CommonSenseMedia.Org for the School Year

   If you are new to this blog, you may not have heard about CommonSenseMedia.org before. If not, you need to check it out. As a parent and as a counselor, I love it. The basic premise of the site is to review all forms of media (books, TV shows, movies, games, etc.) specifically to show what images, messages, and ideas might be communicated to your child if he/she watches or consumes that form of media. It is very specific and gives age recommendations for each media title. But even if you do choose to still let your child watch or read something that this site says might not be appropriate, it gives you some guiding questions to help your child make sense of what they just saw or read. So, the makers and contributors of this site (parents and kids/teens), understand that you cannot always control what your child consumes in the forms of media, but you can at least follow up with them and debrief so that the correct messages are sent and the child can see why it may or may not be appropriate or like/unlike the real world. I have placed several links below to help you explore CommonSenseMedia.org even more. Bookmark the website and use it as your growing teen may want to start seeing more adult movies, TV shows, or read more adult books or play more adult games.

(*Of note....there is a movement out there wanting the movie ratings system to be more like this website instead of their simple letter rating as parents and kids would know more about what they are going to view with this type of rating)

CommonSenseMedia.Org website click here. Also, towards the bottom of the page, they have a just released survey of teens and social media. Interesting information.

Past blog posts of mine about CommonSenseMedia.org:

   50+ Summer Activities by CommonSenseMedia.org click here!

  Blogpost I wrote to introduce parents to CommonSenseMedia. I included several current reviews at the time of shows students were telling me about. On some of them....YIKES!

  And of course, a blogpost specifically about the Hunger Games movie. Since it is now out on DVD, this is pretty timely again.

IPad Apps for Students on the Autism Spectrum or for Students With Learning Disabilities.

   I have placed a link to a blog post by the blog "Emerging EdTech" at the bottom of this post. The post is has some great information about using IPads with students with learning disabilities, especially in the areas of PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder) or Autism/Aspergers. IPads or similar devices can be great tools in the areas of education, learning, and communicating with students who may struggle otherwise. Having resources like this blog post contains is always helpful. I have also placed a link to a 60 Minutes story about using "Apps for Autism". The blog "Free Technology for Teachers" is where I found that link, but I know many parents in our area watched that episode of 60 minutes. Great to watch it again though. Enjoy the resources!

Emerging EdTech Apps for Autism resources click here

60 Minutes Apps for Autism video on Free Technology for Teachers click here

Infographic Showing Our World if Just 100 People...

  I see these infographics and videos every year that take the world averages and numbers and boil them down to the idea of  "what if we were just a world of 100 people?" This infographic has all sorts of interesting information that will make you think and lead to discussions. I think you can make it bigger by clicking on it too.

Browse more infographics.

Positive Attitude is Everything: The Video I Started My Year With

    Got lots of rave reviews from students this year on the video I started all of my 6th and 8th grade classes off with. Even a few parents emailed to say that their child showed them and they loved it to. I have embedded it below so everyone can enjoy it (or enjoy it again?). I have seen this video over 30+ times now over the last two years and the message gets to me every time. In middle school and in adult life, we have to learn to laugh at ourselves and what life offers. And we need to view life through a positive lens. Life is not always good, but how we perceive these things determines the outcome. Those who perceive it negatively will likely get a negative outcome. Those who look at the bright side, might find that the event is not so bad and might even find some good that can come from it. My students have learned very quickly that my main focus is living life with a positive focus. I don't see any reason to be negative....no good comes from it. So I am hoping that rubs off on my students this year. If not, as Sam Glenn says, I might just fall on you! (See video to understand what that means!!)

Tony Danza's New Book About His Year of Teaching: Has Advice for Parents

   If you are like me, you grew up watching "Who's The Boss" starring an up and coming actor named Tony Danza. What a great show! Over time, Tony Danza got lost in the new up-and-coming stars, but the name is still familiar. His name resurfaced a year or two ago with his experiment of being a teacher for a year. A real teacher in a real school. It became quite a reality show and one that I found interesting to watch. Now, he has a book coming out about his year of teaching and has all sorts of advice for all sorts of people. In this USA Today article, he has some advice for parents. As a parent of four kids myself, I agree with his advice. And as a counselor, I LOVE HIS ADVICE! Life has become very busy and very packed over the last two to three decades and we have lost some of this parental involvement. Our kids have cell phones now, so we all feel we can drop them off at their events and have them call us when they are done. That is our form of involvement. And we have email where we can just email the adults in our kids' lives and that saves time. But this article made me take a step back and realize that involvement in my own kids' lives means I really need to be involved, not just when it is convenient for me. Anyway, on a day when most of us have a day off from our busy world and are likely spending it with family, today might be the day to re-commit to getting involved in our childrens' lives. Happy Labor Day to everyone!

Read a great Tony Danza article here and note that his book comes out on Sept. 11th, 2012.

Mr. Barry's Minute Meetings This Week!

Mr. Barry has taken on the challenge to meet with all 174 6th graders individually for 1 minute this first week of school. He will be asking students 4 questions and getting some class data by putting it into the survey below. Hopefully, by meeting Mr. Barry 1-on-1, Mr. Barry will learn more about each student and each student will know who the school counselor is and that the student can talk to Mr. Barry at anytime about anything. Please do not answer the survey questions below as the survey is active and the results should only be due to the 6th graders answers. Thank you!