NR Focus

Coalition Meeting – Wednesday June 13th

nrfocus — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:54:55 +0000

This coming Wednesday at 8:30am in Rm 207 of New Rochelle High School we will be having our last coalition meeting before the summer. We will highlight our accomplishments this year, including but not limited to, Family University, parent & student workshops, our Be a Parent Not a Friend & Getting Trashed – thxbutNOthx social norms campaigns (with a viewing of both video public service announcements we shot with New Ro teens), our texting program, national recognition of our coalition and our prom initiative.

We will also be discussing projects for the summer, for as you all know – summertime is the time that most adolescents try drugs and alcohol for the first time. So come join us and help us make this summer a healty and happy one

Family U Brochure – REGISTER NOW!!!!

nrfocus — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 04:00:02 +0000

The Family University 2012 brochure is now available for download. Please click here to download 2012 Family U brochure (Back) 2012 Family U brochure (Front) Once you download the file, please fill out the registration form, write a check to Student Assistance Services for the tuition costs ($5 a person) and mail registration form and check to New Rochelle HS PTSA, 265 Clove Road, New Rochelle, NY 10801

NR FOCUS launches its Spring Media Campaigns for Parents & Teens

nrfocus — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:28:01 +0000

New Rochelle FOCUS, in conjunction with Safe Schools, Healthy Students, has launched two Spring media campaigns – one for Parents and one for Teens.

PARENT campaign – Be a Parent Not a Friend

The parent campaign may be familiar to the residents of New Rochelle as it was initially used in the Spring of 2010. The campaign “Be a Parent Not a Friend” was introduced in New Rochelle to help change the culture surrounding house parties and parental values. Most teens, when surveyed, say the #1 place they get alcohol is their home and the #1 place they drink alcohol is at other people’s homes. Some adults believe that drinking alcohol is a “rite of passage” and allow teens to drink in their homes.

There are several flaws in his reasoning. First and foremost, it is against the law. Second, alcohol has a profound effect on the development of the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus in a teen’s brain; two critical areas of the brain. Third, teens who drink alcohol tend to engage in other risky behaviors like unprotected sex and drug use and lastly, teens who use alcohol may be the victim or perpetrator of crimes like “date rape”, assault, theft, criminal mischief/property damage and DWI/ vehicular manslaughter.

Many campaigns focus on the fact that parents may be arrested for hosting an underage drinking party in an effort to deter this behavior and there are laws in this County and State which can be enforced. However, that should not be the reason that parents refrain from hosting these parties or condoning this behavior. Rather it should be because “underage drinking can ruin all the things you want for your child. Health, Happiness, Safety and Success” . That is the message of our campaign.

In addition to the outdoor media campaign (billboards, train kiosks and bus shelters), we will be distributing palmcards through the PTAs, local merchants and pediatricians which detail the new brain research dealing with alcohol’s effect on the Teenage Brain and will post articles throughout the next two months dealing with the issue of underage drinking. So make sure to check back periodically.

TEEN Campaign – Getting Trashed #thxbutNOthx

We have also launched a media campaign that we created with New Rochelle youth. The campaign entitled “Getting Trashed” focuses on house parties and the problems that can arise. The students came up with the concept and wanted to do both a print media campaign as well as a video public service announcement.

The print campaign is simple and straightforward – getting trashed is not the norm. The use of the hashtag followed by a texting version of Thanks but No Thanks demonstrates that many teens don’t need to drink to have fun.

The video will be filmed this weekend and will be shown at The New Roc City theaters from Memorial Day weekend through July as well as being shown on this website and YouTube. The video will focus on a house party. Stay tuned for more info …..

SADD week @ Iona Prep

nrfocus — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:39:27 +0000

Click on the following link to see what students at Iona Prep are doing for SADD week - ionaprep.org/apps/news/show_news.jsp?REC_ID=237322&id=0

Quarterly Coalition Meeting Tomorrow

nrfocus — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:06:38 +0000

Come join us for our quarterly coalition meeting tomorrow morning March 8th at 11:30 in Rm 222 of New Rochelle HS. We will be discusses our accomplishments since Sept ’11 and our new projects and events for the Spring. Be a part of the process!!!

New Research on Smoking Marijuana & Driving

nrfocus — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:08:42 +0000

Smoke & Mirrors: Driving While High on Marijuana Doubles One’s Chances of a Serious Car Crash

By Katherine Harmon | February 9, 2012 |

Booze is behind an estimated 2.1 million car accidents each year in the U.S.—which cause almost 11,000 traffic fatalities annually. But many drug users have claimed that a few puffs of pot before getting behind the wheel are perfectly harmless. A new study, however, shows that drivers who smoke marijuana within a few hours of hitting the road are almost twice as likely as stone-sober motorists to be in a crash that results in serious injury or death.

Authors of the new paper, published online Thursday in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), sifted through nine previous studies to develop a clearer picture of the risks to users who light up before revving up. Previous studies have left the effects of marijuana on its own—when not combined with alcohol or other drugs—a little hazy.

But the researchers’ findings make sense to others in the field. “Their results are consistent with experimental evidence that cannabis use leads to dose related impairments in simulated driving, psychomotor skills and on-road driving,” Wayne Hall, of the University of Queensland’s Center for Clinical Research who was not involved in the new research, wrote in a related essay in BMJ.

In addition to the finding that drivers who had recently smoked pot were substantially more likely to be involved in a serious accident, the researchers found that those who had died in these crashes had higher amounts of the drug’s compound tetrahydrocannabinol than those who survived. But there was not enough data to link concentrations of the compound to various outcomes in order to suggest a threshold for dangerous intoxication, noted the researchers, who were led by Mark Asbridge, of Dalhousie University’s Department of Community Health and Epidemiology.

Driving while stoned has become a hot topic as more states allow for medical use of marijuana. The 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that more than 10 million people admitted to having driven while on at least one illegal drug—with pot being the most common. More than a dozen states currently have roadside drug tests for cannabis that sample drivers’ saliva for traces of tetrahydrocannabinol. But, as Hall noted, ascertaining a dangerous level—as is currently used in a breath-based test for alcohol (0.05 percent)—is less clear cut. So far many governments are using a zero-tolerance rule, but, as Hall pointed out, “researchers have proposed a concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol below which driving is not impaired.”

Assessing the definitive risk for actually being in a car crash because of marijuana use is also tricky because studies haven’t always looked at drivers who were not determined to be “at fault”—or passengers of vehicles or people involved in minor accidents.

Nevertheless, Asbridge and his colleagues noted, “This information could be used as the basis for campaigns against drug impaired driving.” But the roadside testing has not been as widely publicized as rapid alcohol breath tests have been, so the chance of getting “caught” with pot in one’s system doesn’t seem to have scared very many people into not smoking before driving. As Hall wrote, the idea that roadside tests for pot will reduce traffic fatalities as drastically and as rapidly as breathalyzers did for alcohol “is probably too optimistic.” But that doesn’t mean that attempts to stub out the dangerous habit should be written off just yet. “Better evidence is essential,” Hall said of the attempts to fight pot-impaired driving with more roadside testing.

About the Author: Katherine Harmon is an associate editor for Scientific American covering health, medicine and life sciences. Follow on Twitter @katherineharmon

This Holiday Season, Give your Children the Gift of TIME

nrfocus — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:02:43 +0000

This is the time of year when most parents are searching for that special gift that will light up their child’s face and satisfy everyone’s expectations of the perfect gift on Christmas morning. Some parents go shopping in the middle of the night, travel many miles in search of the perfect gift or spend hours online tracking down the perfect gift when all the time it is right there at the tips of their fingers and ready to give at all times.

The perfect gift your child wants, not only this time of year, but all year long, is YOU. For many parents and adults, this is the hardest gift for them to give. We live in a world that has lost family meal time, story time, sharing time and “I care” time. The perfect gift for your child is your gift of time together playing, talking and sharing a meal, a smile, a song, a laugh and a time together with you. (Click to read the rest of the article)

In this High Tech world, a few apps to help students

nrfocus — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 11:12:46 +0000

In a world where our teens cannot go for long without checking their texts, facebook, Twitter accounts or playing Angry Birds or Tiny Wings, here are a few apps they can download which can help them with school. Show your child you are tech savvy by turning them on to the apps in the attached article. You’ll not only get some “creds” with your child but you’ll be helping them get a jump start on the school year.

Check it out!

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43917691/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/t/terrific-apps-help-out-high-school-students/

Parents’ Corner – Marijuana – Know the Facts Before You Talk

nrfocus — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:24:07 +0000

Marijuana is responsible for the following physical effects in a user:

THC – the main chemical in marijuana – changes the way in which sensory information gets into and is acted on by particular systems in the brain. The system most affected is the limbic system, which is crucial for learning, memory and the integration of sensory experiences with emotions and motivations. Investigations have shown that THC suppresses neurons in the information-processing system of the brain.
A person who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers develop. The individual may have daily cough and phlegm, symptoms of chronic bronchitis and more frequent chest colds. Continuing to smoke marijuana can lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissue injured or destroyed by marijuana smoke.
Regardless of the THC content, the amount of tar inhaled by marijuana smokers and the level of carbon monoxide absorbed are three to five times greater than among tobacco smokers. This may be due to marijuana users inhaling more deeply and holding the smoke in the lungs.

In order for parents to help curb the growing problem of marijuana use among teens they must first understand the dangers involved in using the drug. The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign cautions parents to be aware of the following points about marijuana use:

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug among youth today.
More teens enter treatment for marijuana abuse each year than for all other illicit drugs combined.
Marijuana is addictive.
Marijuana use can lead to a host of significant health, social, learning and behavioral problems at a crucial time in a young person’s development.
Adolescent marijuana users show lower academic achievement compared to non-users.
Even short-term marijuana use has been linked to memory loss and difficulty with problem-solving.
Time and again, kids say that their parents are the single most important influence when it comes to using drugs. (This information was taken from an article at www.connectwithkids.com)

Throughout the week we will be posting other information like- signs and symptoms of use and how to start and maintain the conversation with your child. Check back soon!

“Like” us? Please do!

nrfocus — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:37:40 +0000

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