* It’s getting a bit unwieldy, with so many related issues/subtopics

* It’s taking a long time to load the nearly 300 comments

* There are other blog posts here on Locally Grown where people can comment on this issue.

But I must say, I’m really pleased with both the quality and quantity of contributions from such a wide variety of citizens. Thank you everyone, and I hope you’ll continue to participate.

http://www.comminit.com/changetheories/ctheories/changetheories-71.html

“This emotional cycle is not exclusive to the terminally ill, it also affects people and communities impacted by bad news. The important factor is not that the change is good or bad, but that the person or community perceives it as a significantly negative event.”

In my personal experiences I have learned that change brings grief. Each time we are forced to deal with a new reality, we experience grief. In that way, we all experience many “griefs” throughout our lifetime. The publicity of heroin use among youth and young adults in Northfield is a new reality for many of us. No matter what the numbers are, it is natural that we would experience feelings of denial and anger.

Anyway, I would also like people to keep in mind that although the
groups and the organizations and the service people are all an
important part of gtting things done, in the end, it is the in
dividual person that needs attention.

Each individual
is different and may require a very wholistic approach to healing,
taking into consideration personal beliefs, habits, culture and
dreams for the future. In other words, the mind, body and spirit
of the addict must be considered, and considered on an individual
basis very attentively.

Much of this understanding should be realized even before the addict approaches the agency where they will be receiving support.

It is my sincerest hope that what I have said is already known,
but I hope to remind anyone who may have forgotten as part my
contribution to this discussion.

Bright

The first step is to learn more. On Monday, July 23 there will be a learning and dialoging opportunity through the 4th Monday discussion of the League of Women Voters. In partnership with the Mayor’s Task Force, this discussion will help Northfield community members learn about what is already being done and about ways to get involved. It provides the opportunity to ask questions and give valuable input. The discussion will be held at the Northfield Library beginning at 7:00 pm.

I wouldn’t want to argue all night about marijuana or drug legalization, which I don’t really care all that much about…

I’m hoping that the Star Tribune does another article on this issue sometime in the next few days, this time a comprehensive take on all that’s happened since this story began 3 weeks ago.

If and when that happens, I’ll start a new blog post and invite the discussion to continue there, as this thread is taking a long time to load.

Hope to see many of you Monday night at The Key for the discussion. Max and Marie, thanks for posting the info here. I’ve blogged it.

I sure hope you can stay clean and sober. You’ve got a great life ahead of you and, based on what you’ve demonstrated here so far, you could really help others recover and maybe even avoid the hell you’ve been through.

I had a great conversation with Mr. Wigley, and I would just like to say that he’s a great guy for making this blog available to the public of northfield. For a man with no connections to the problem he shows a genuine concern for this town and the issues at hand. Finally i feel there is now a forum for people to express themselves. From my experience Northfield is a town where people tend to turn the other cheek and just kind of give off the impression that “it couldn’t happen here”. I really aprreciate this forum and everyones comments.

I struggle with addiction everyday of my life and am one of the lucky ones who is living sober a day at a time. There is a saying in A.A./N.A. and it goes something like, drugs/alcohol gets you no where in life but jails instituions and death..i once heard it described as being locked up, sobered up, or covered up. Thats all you get in the life of addiction and i hope for any addicts reading this they make a cry for help!! If your too scared to go to someone you love or trust find an A.A. meeting and ask for help or suggestions.

If that doesn’t work for you i strongly strongly suggest Omada Behavioral Health (i think thats the title) haha….But go and talk to Sarah Shippy…That is a woman who would give you the shirt off her back..anything you need as far as help.. Go get an assesment and please do what you can to get help. I shot dope for two years. lots of dope a day..I tryed three inpatients and now this time I am working a program (A.A.) and have a sponser. I also started Opiate Replacement Therapy. I am using Buprenorphine on a maintence dosage.

Ask a professional for help ask anyone that loves you or vice versa!! ASK ME! And parents/loved ones/guardians..Make it known that you will do your best to understand and that addiction is a disease…Tell them how far you’d go for them to get well, get help, to get your old child back!! Alot of kids and young adults, hell even adults think their parents just won’t understand. Make it known that you want them to do the best they can in life..even if you think they already know it!! If anyone has questions please ask i’d love to help anyone in need.. Take care of yourselves and God Bless..

thanks for sharing your daughter’s experience. Simply responding to people is a matter of courtesy that seems to be undervalued in too many places in every city. It sounds like your daughter had a stream of bad luck, but I applaud her for making efforts to connect in a new town. It’s challenging to move in high school, but her continued efforts to connect will help her develop those needed resources for a move to college and a place of work beyond that.

I hope others hear this message and wake up. Responding to inquiries is simply NOT difficult, and in the cases you described, it was the responsibility. Encourage your daughter to keep trying. It sounds like you’re doing well to help her connect and find a place for herself in a new town. Check with the hospital or nursing homes or elementary schools. There might be a couple young people who could use a summer or after-school reading mentor or an elderly person who can no longer read his or her favorite parts of the newspaper but would love to have someone come in and read for them and simply “be there” for a while. Best wishes to you and your daughter.

I enjoyed reading your comments, and I would agree that the problem is largely cultural. You sound like someone who has run the gauntlet of pop culture diversions while trying to raise children to think differently.

I think Northfield and other places have much of the architecture in place for involving kids in healthy activities, but the apparatus is not enough. The adults running the apparatus have to run it well, which requires having the time and energy for it. A kid reaching out for a healthy connection most likely needs an adult to make that connection happen.

Thanks, again, for your thoughtful essay.

While I have no problem with the ideas of creating more activities for kids (who can say this is bad), I don’t think it will solve any new drug problems. Wouldn’t it be nice if it were that simple? If we are really concerned, we need to think a little deeper in order to really understand this generation and the effects the current culture has had and continues to have on shaping their values, fears, beliefs, and behaviors. Encourage kids to start thinking critically about the mass of garbage and marketing that is thrown their way. Stop underestimating the power of fake experience (video games, television) in large doses on the developing mind. Somehow young people have come to believe (a few of them) that doing heroin is high-class. Where did this come from? This was NOT the belief my generation had. So it has nothing to do with drug education, which has largely stayed the same aside from adding new information on prescription drugs and meth. Somehow it is now easier to grow up with a false view of reality. And the more kids spend unengaged (as in not really doing something that requires them to continue in their development in any form, such as thinking, creating, discussing, or playing), the less able they are to respond to potentially harmful messages. Book smart does not equal good powers of judgement. I belief it is entirely possible to earn all A’s and not know how to make a good decision in the current culture that is fascinated by high marks, “success” for its own sake, earning power, narcissism, and almost anything but questioning new information and fads or deciding to discover some truth through our own experience. For starters, get rid of all marketing (Channel One if your schools have it) in the schools and make sure there are strong communications classes in place that help kids begin to question what they see presented in the magazines and television programs around them. Just because someone with a sexy voice sings about going to rehab does not mean that going to rehab is some common experience that is no big deal. This singer is a real person who is putting her own life in jeopardy and while she looks happy because she is successful and loaded with money, perhaps she is miserable. Etc. Engage kids in real-life experiences. This does not have to be structured. Encourage them to get started in a way that is meaningful to them (allow them to choose from many great options) and guide them with as little involvement as you can get by with. If we can gear kids towards engaging activities that we have not set up and entirely designed for them and that are not monitored by us each minute, kids might find value in their real-life opportunties for connecting with others, being constructive, useful, or creative. For some reason, some kids are taking the route of ultimate unengagement (blotting out reality with hard drugs). I doubt they have not had “activities” available to them. Adding more of the same thing will not produce different results. To get different results, it’s time to do something different. That means, not the same thing with another name or a slightly different spin. It’s time to really think outside the box. But that requires beginning to really understand this generation through from their perspective, as much as possible, and not from our perspective. My childhood was really quite different than those experienced by young people today. So I need to step back and figure out what is different….what needs to go, what needs to stay, where young people need guidance, and where they can find their strengths in new ways.

I just wanted to mention a couple of items that came up at this week’s Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Alcohol & Drug Use meeting that may relate to a few posts here.

The Mayor’s Task Force and the League of Women Voters are hosting another community discussion about this issue as part of the League’s 4th Monday series. The discussion will be held on Monday, July 23 at 7:00 p.m. at the Northfield Public Library. Look for more information to follow in the next couple of days from the League and the Task Force.

For a number of years, the local drug and alcohol treatment providers have been – and continue to be – willing to talk with local groups about these issues, to share knowledge on available resources, and to answer questions. The most recent trainings were offered this spring for the medical community and for local teachers. However, past sessions have also been held with parents, social service providers, and youth service professionals. If you have groups who are interested in this, please let us know and we’d be happy to work with you to set it up.

As was mentioned at the Task Force and by Dr. Richardson on the KYMN interview, the Northfield Public Schools and the Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) have conducted an annual school survey of youth that asks about their use of drugs and alcohol, their perceptions of use by peers, their perceptions of disapproval by peers, and their thoughts on how easy it is to obtain these substances. The survey is given to students in grades 6, 8, 9, and 11. The results are analyzed by Roger Jenni, the school district’s coordinator of testing and program assessment. These results are presented to community groups throughout the year. If individuals or groups are interested in these presentations, give us a call.

Several bloggers have mentioned the importance of youth and adults continuing to talk about these issues, as well as other issues in the community (which is a research-based best practice in youth development). If there are ways that HCI can help/support these conversations among groups you know, give us a call – we’d be happy to do what we can to help support them.

And again, if there are other ways that we can be helpful or if you have ideas/comments/suggestions, please don’t hesitate to give me or Julie Bubser (HCI Coordinators) a call (664-3524) or Kathy Sandberg (Rice County Family Services Collaborative – 507-333-6813).

Thanks,

Zach Pruitt
Coordinator, Northfield Healthy Community Initiative
Staff support, Rice County Chemical Health Coalition

“The point is that the responsibility for engaging our kids in creative and productive and healthy activities lies with the adults, where it’s always been. Are we too busy?”

First, thinking back just one generation to my teen years, there was much less structure and organization. The summer rules were generally something like, “here’s a bike (or a baseball glove, guitar or whatever), be home for dinner…” Sure there was Legion baseball and swimming lessons and other adult-organized activity, but the main event was learning to find things to do with one’s friends. (And yes, even then there were kids drawn toward dangerous behaviors. But then, like now, those kids were far and away the minority. One thing that’s been lost in the heroin hysteria is a distinction between heroin use as a serious problem for a small number of youth and adults — which it is — and the needs and behaviors of the vast majority of youth in our community, who are NOT involved in descructive drug use.)

I’d argue that over time many kids have become accustomed to adults organizing too much activity. If kids are used to being tightly scheduled and managed, it can be a frustrating challenge for them to re-learn how to organize for themselves. This can sometimes be a painful process for parents to watch…

Second, yes it is true that Nfld can be a tough nut to crack, especially without some natural point of connection like work, school, club or church. That said, taking the NAG or the Key as examples, there is a lot going on at both places, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that one call or contact asking about how to volunteer will be heard, much less acted upon. I’ve watched my son and daughter get involved at the Key over the past year, and I have to say that I have been very pleasantly surprised at how welcoming the Key has been to a wide range of kids. Have your daughter try again, perhaps by just showing up. If she persists, she probably won’t be disappointed.

Randy