Jeff Wolfsberg & Associates

Drug Education and Wellness Specialists

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Welcome

by Jeff Wolfsberg

Welcome.  I hope that your visit here indicates a shared commitment for increasing effective alcohol and other drug prevention and early intervention in schools and communities. 

 We know the challenges facing public and private secondary schools and higher education when it comes to alcohol and other drug use.  The change we all desire requires the collective will and participatory engagement from drug education practitioners, parents, community leaders, students, and education professionals.

Secondary schools, colleges and universities, and community coalitions have sought our partnership in:

  • Presenting school assemblies to high school and college students.  Providing extended seminars “Our 4 Day” experience which is designed for schools looking for a long-term relationship.
  • Faculty in-service training to enhance the skills and offer new distinctions for faculty to effectively address alcohol, drugs, and mental health issues of students in a school and community setting.
  • Present programs for parents that increase parenting skills and strengthen beliefs that support raising drug-free teens.
  • Hosting conversations that matter (Facilitation Services) to access the collective wisdom of the community towards positive change.  Conversations can be hosted for the parent community, a new strategic initiative for the school, a Head creating a new vision, or a Board retreat.
  • Present to student leaders to engage them in alcohol,  drug, and mental health issues across their school – “turn student leaders’ values into action”.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

 

What is your school doing?

Find us on all major social media channels – twitter hash tags #drugeducation #advisory #edsinrecovery #emergingdrugtrends #addiction #parenting #drugeducationinschools #education #mentalhealth #mentalillness

Me and Sandy (1983) White tux kills!

What is it about a prom and graduation season that makes rational parents go bonkers?

As we move into the prom and graduation season, many parents and school officials worry about the safety of their children. An Internet search under the term “Safe Prom” turns up hundreds of websites that focus on encouraging students to make safe and healthy choices and schools conducting pre-prom events showing the dangers of drinking and driving. However, there were few websites encouraging or guiding parents to take a leadership role in creating a safe prom night.

For over a decade, I’ve worked as a drug education specialist in independent and public secondary schools educating principals, headmasters, parents, and students about the dangers of underage drinking and other drug use. When conversation turns to a horror story about prom night or graduation party disasters, in many cases, it is a parent who has either rented a hotel room with little or no supervision or purchased the alcohol the teens’ consumed.

A 2002 study revealed that 40% of teen traffic fatalities during the prom and graduation weekends were alcohol-related. Fatal car accidents, injuries, and assaults are not an adolescent rite of passage for any teen. Underage drinking is a major factor in the two leading causes of teenage deaths: car crashes and fatal injuries. Underage high-risk drinking is also linked to two-thirds of sexual assaults and date rapes of teens, and increases the likelihood of unsafe and unplanned sexual activity. According to the American College of Preventive Medicine, approximately 75% of adolescent morbidity and mortality is associated with behavioral health risks, of which a large portion can be attributed to alcohol and other drug use.

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Should Recovering Drug Addicts Teach Drug Education Programs?

March 16, 2012

I’m assuming by your question that you mean am I giving teens the impression that drugs aren’t that bad because I’ve recovered and I’m leading a productive life? I think the point of being sick, as the state of addiction is often described, is to get well. I’m not apologetic about getting well or leading [...]

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New “Super Vicodin” Zohydro – Is it time to worry?

March 15, 2012

New Addictive Painkiller Drug: MyFoxBOSTON.com

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Where do teens get alcohol? And when do kids start drinking or using other drugs?

March 14, 2012

Most kids will tell you they get alcohol from a friend’s home.  Others will say they have an older sibling or family member buy it for them.  In a study by the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) 95% of 12th graders, 28% of 10th graders, and 18% of 8th graders said alcohol was easy [...]

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What do I say to my graduating senior about college next year and all the drinking and partying that I read about in the news?

March 14, 2012

There’s good news and bad news.  The bad is that those students drinking on college campuses are drinking more.  However, the good news is there is an increase in students who abstain completely from alcohol or drink moderately.  Additional good news is more and more colleges are taking the issue of underage drinking and alcohol [...]

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I’m not very knowledgeable about drugs. How could I tell if my child is using drugs?

March 7, 2012

This is a difficult question because many of the characteristics of being an adolescent resemble drug use.  If I were to say, “Look for abrupt changes in mood, appetite or social affiliations,” most of you would run screaming home assuming your kids were on drugs.  Adolescents, unlike most adults, often are able to disguise the [...]

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Meet Deborah Drake

March 4, 2012

I‘m pleased to introduce you to a new friend and colleague Deborah Drake.  I met Deb years ago when she was the enrollment specialist for a Recovery Coaching program. Deb’s approach to handling my questions, her enthusiastic engagement in the mission of the program, and her gentle way of guiding me to registration made a [...]

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