Freshmen at Newtown High School recently attended a panel called “Vaping … Substance Use … Is It Worth Talking About?” — find out what they learned.

The initiative was the first of its kind.

The freshmen sat for several panelists, who relayed personal testimony about how substance use has affected them or how they encounter it in their profession. One speaker has been addicted, another lost a loved one to addiction. She is a mother, Josephine, who said she never told her story to a group of kids before.

There was a school resource officer, a counselor, and a doctor as well.

Each presenter brought something different to the table during their segment, but many of the themes approached by the presenters had the same resounding messages.

Preceding this experience, Nichols told The Newtown Bee he held a game show activity with the class “to build awareness of this important topic leading up to the event.”

He added, “I believe Newtown High School is not unlike many other high schools as it relates to this topic.”

Resisting Manipulation

One of these themes was to make the freshmen aware that vaping was marketed to children with enticing flavors designed to manipulate them.

Officer Fernando Perreira said he has found vapes at Reed Intermediate School, and asked students to “think about how little” the fifth and sixth graders who attend the school are.

“People try to make money off of you. You are worth so much more than that,” Josephine said on this. “Your life is worth so much more than that.”

Dr Ana Paula Machado, medical advisor for Newtown Public Schools, encouraged the students to “get mad” about this effort by vaping companies to entice them into trying the substance. She also talked largely about the effects of drugs on the mind, especially nicotine as it rewires the brain and can become permanent the younger you are when you start.

The panelists also talked about how vaping and drinking are gateways to even more addictive, more serious drugs that come with high mortality. Josephine talked about how her son started out drinking heavily, then eventually overdosed from fentanyl.

“He was a good kid … He was a kind, sensitive kid, but once the drugs got a hold of him, he just could not break free,” Josephine said. “You don’t know where it’s going to lead, you really don’t.”

OK To Say ‘No’

Cory Griffin, counselor at Newport Academy for teen mental health and substance abuse treatment, gave some professional advice on how to say “no” to any substance. She reported that “peer pressure is the number one trigger” for substance use.

Griffin provided an array of responses a student could use when they are faced with peer pressure. These included responding with humor, making an excuse, citing an experience with someone who was harmed by the substance, suggesting something else to do or ignoring the initial suggestion, having an escape plan, saying “thanks, but no thanks,” or simply saying “no.”

“For that friend that keeps asking, it can still be ‘no,’” Griffin said.

Grace Lynch, a senior at NHS, talked about her personal experiences of facing and overcoming peer pressure as someone currently attending high school.

“I thought I had to be popular,” Lynch said about her early high school experience. Lynch recounted that she was able to stay completely sober despite pressures, and advised the freshmen to take pride in their sobriety, as she does.

“You’ve got to stay true to yourself,” Lynch said. “The people that love you will stick around.”

“Don’t worry about what anyone thinks,” Josephine said about peer pressure in her speech. “You do the right thing.”

Find Another Solution

Griffin said that self-medicating was not a good way to deal with “the pains of life” and listed alternative solutions, such as proper diet, listening to music, adopting a meditation practice, joining a club or a sports team, and reaching out to a support system.

“I hope you focus your energies or efforts on positive things,” Josephine said, also telling students that there are “so many things” other than substances to stimulate their brain and life.

Lynch too spoke about alternate activities and supportive resources in her speech, and said she has never once had to try vaping in order to cope with a problem in her life. She talked about living a life without regrets.

“If you’re bored? Join a club. Stressed? Talk to a counselor. All of those feelings — there is another solution,” Lynch said.

Take-Home Messages

Each presenter brought their singular experience, and seemed to have unique resounding impacts as they brought something different to the table.

For example, Josephine asked students to think of their families before making regretful choices.

“I always loved him,” she said of her son, “and I still do to this day. That’s why I’m here.”

Lynch reminded students that they may have their social media reviewed for content by prospective colleges someday, and detailed how succumbing to peer pressures comes with consequences.

“Is that something you just want hanging around on your name?” she asked.

Lynch told the students she and their other older peers think someone is “cool” when they are active in their school community and perform community service, not doing drugs.

Griffin made students aware that proclivity toward substance abuse can include genetic influence, environmental influence, and psychological factors where co-occuring conditions such as experiencing trauma or having anxiety play a role. She talked about how students who use substances often are alone and no longer do things they enjoy, or seem like themselves. She also said substance abuse can lead to episodes of psychosis.

Griffin advised students to understand their potential triggers that might encourage them to try or use, and to not give up on therapy to manage issues.

After the speakers, Nichols announced that students would be separating into breakout rooms led by one panelist of their choice. He explained to The Newtown Bee that this was for students to “build a further connection” in a “smaller, more intimate environment for Q&A.”

Nichols pointed out how these unique messages were intentional.

“My hope is they were all touched today,” Nichols said of the freshmen, then attributed the ability of the event to reach each student to the experiential diversity of the panel. “I think we met them right where they’re at.”

Reporter Noelle Veillette can be reached at noelle@thebee.com.