The education department said it uses a “range of systems” to support students with substance use issues, including deploying substance abuse counselors to educate students about drugs and alcohol while identifying and supporting kids with substance use disorders. “And we have so many kids who are in need right now, socially and emotionally already, and so many kids who are engaging in drug use that the amount of resources and personnel it would take to make shifts is a lot bigger than what schools have.” “For schools to really have an impact requires staff that are well-trained,” said Annie Annunziato, an assistant principal at Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women, a 6-12 school in Downtown Brooklyn. Officials at Manhattan’s highly selective Beacon High School told parents this fall that students caught vaping in school will be suspended, while offering information sessions for parents about substance use.īut at the same time, educators say schools often don’t have the resources or training to give students the more intensive support they need. Another is mandating three sessions with a staffer who has a background in substance abuse counseling. One small Manhattan high school is assigning students caught getting high during the school day to attend peer-led restorative circles. Student cannabis use often goes undetected, and some schools may be responding to the uptick without relying solely on disciplinary or punitive measures, which drug experts say are often ineffective in curbing substance use. School Disciplinary Reports Show Only Part of Problemĭisciplinary records might offer a limited window into the problem. The increases were even greater in middle school, an education department spokesperson confirmed, though she did not provide specific numbers. Reports of “controlled substances” and drug paraphernalia found on students at school were up 8% so far this year compared to the same period in 2019, according to the data, even though the K-12 student population has fallen by 11% in that time. It’s like self-medicating.”Įducation department numbers obtained by Chalkbeat seem to back up educators’ observations. Nelson added, “There are a lot of kids in a lot of pain from the pandemic who don’t know how to address it. “It used to be a problem with our high school kids, but now…we have kids coming to school high as young as middle school.” “We definitely have seen an increase in incidents of kids using marijuana,” said Anna Nelson, an assistant principal at Bronx Latin, a public school that serves grades 6-12. ![]() Yet the number of dedicated substance abuse counselors in city schools has been nearly cut in half over the past decade and a half, leaving many schools unsure how to respond. Now, some New York City school staffers are seeing an uptick in student drug use that is spilling into the school day, and they say it’s starting at a younger age. Members and sponsors make THE CITY possible. At the same time, the ongoing youth mental health crisis, exacerbated by the pandemic, may be pushing more kids to self-medicate with marijuana. Teens experimenting with marijuana is nothing new, but the legal landscape and market for the drug have shifted rapidly, making it easier for young people to get more potent cannabis products they can use discreetly before or during school. “Bathrooms, blind spots in cameras … in this school, since so many people do it, people know spots.” “At first it was edibles, but then it went to a weed pen,” said the teen, whose name is being withheld to protect his privacy. Soon, though, he was using marijuana to address other mental health issues, like depression that suppressed his appetite and anxiety that made it difficult to go to class. The Manhattan 16-year-old started smoking weed to get over a bad breakup, initially keeping the habit outside school hours. ![]() Sign up for their newsletters here: ckbe.at/newsletters.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |