Barnstable County Substance Use Council Hosting Annual Parent Summit on Sunday

BARNSTABLE – The Barnstable County Regional Substance Use Council is hosting the third Annual Parent Summit on Sunday to provide parents and caregivers with practical strategies to steer their children away from the dangers of substance use.

This year’s theme, “My Choice Matters: Parenting to Prevent Substance Use,” will shed light on the emergence of vaping and will explore how anxiety and depression can push pre-teens and teenagers to experiment with drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

The summit, which begins at noon on Sunday at the Cape Codder Resort and Spa in Hyannis, will feature nationally-recognized relationship and family expert Lynne Griffin as the keynote speaker. There is no charge for admission, although pre-registration is required.

Griffin is the author of three novels and the nonfiction guides – Let’s Talk About It: Adolescent Mental Health, and Negotiation Generation: Take Back Your Parental Authority Without Punishment. Her talk will address “Vulnerable Children: What Parents Need to Know About Anxiety, Depression and Substance Use.”

Following Griffin’s presentation, Stacey Schakel, a Registered Nurse and Nurse Coordinator with the Mashpee School District, will take to the podium to provide a front-line look at the prevalence of vaping among students, how electronic smoking devices make it more difficult to detect if a child is smoking tobacco or marijuana, as well as practical tips on how parents and caregivers can intervene.

“Stacey has been presenting all over the Cape regarding this issue, which we all know has grown to epidemic proportions. We’ve seen such a rise in vaping over the last couple years. From 2017 to 2018 there was a 50-percent increase in middle schoolers using the vape and an 80-percent increase in the high school age group,” said Kim Slade, summit organizer and Barnstable County Department of Human Services Substance Use Program Manager.

“Each year we try to help provide parents with concrete skills and tools that they can take and implement with their families to help raise healthy, happy kids that are a little more resilient to substance use than they may have been previously.”

Slade noted that while some may be predisposed to addiction, it’s important that substance use disorders not be considered a predetermined outcome, or overlook the fact that the choices young people and their families make can empower them to avoid substance use altogether regardless of their background or circumstances.

“Ultimately, our goal is to have our parents come and not just hear this information, but walk away with some of these concrete steps that they can take, these next steps and plans they can implement when they’re in families,” Slade says.

Free child care is also being offered to summit attendees who bring children, although it must be reserved during the registration process.

The summit agenda is as follows:

12:00pm – 12:30 pm Registration and Meet with Local Experts

12:30pm – 12:45pm Welcome and Introductions

12:45pm – 2:00pm Keynote Lynne Griffin – Vulnerable Children: What Parents Need to Know About Anxiety, Depression, and Substance Use

2:00pm – 2:15pm Break and Snack

2:15pm – 3:00pm Vaping: What Every Parent Needs to Know

3:00pm – 3:30pm Wrap up and Resources

By TIM DUNN, CapeCod.com News Center 

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