4 Troubled Teens Blog

Law enforcement officials in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, are have seen enough cases of teenage prescription drug abuse to consider it a major threat. The fight against prescription drug abuse, however, is aimed at not at the teens themselves, but at their parents. A June 21 article by Daniel Victor of the Patriot News provides details:

"We're seeing more and more prescribed drug abuse among young people, and part of it is the accessibility," said Dennis McMaster, police chief at the East Pennsboro Police Department. "They're stealing it from mom and dad, grandma and grandpa." ...

Some teenagers tend to think the drugs are safer than street drugs because they've been prescribed to someone, said [Lt. Gary Seefeldt of the Lower Paxton Police Department]. But experts say they carry just as much risk.

"They sometimes carry the veneer of safety, but when kids are abusing them and using them recreationally, these are highly addicting medications," [Elizabeth Planet, who manages Columbia University's annual teen survey] said. "They're not safe when used not as prescribed."

A recent media campaign by the White House helped increase awareness of prescription drug dangers among parents from forty to eighty percent.

A 2008 survey by Columbia University found that teenagers feel prescription drugs are easier to get than beer. It also found that 65 percent of prescription drugs that teens abuse came from parents or parents of friends.

Labels: parental_involvement, prescription_drug_abuse, teenagers, police

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 0 Comments

A $5.3 million project is aiming to help 850 Toronto teens find paid summer jobs. One hundred of those jobs will be with the Toronto police force.

"Wexford Collegiate student Tara Omorogbe, 18, said she sees officers in a new light after doing filing and computer work for the Toronto police last summer as part of the Youth in Police Initiative... Omorogbe said she learned communication skills that applied to her co-op as she works toward a career as a midwife."

The summer job program is part of a large-scale initiative called Youth Opportunities Strategy. When choosing potential work places, Youth Opportunities organizers look for employers that want to offer more than just a job. The ideal employer is interested in mentoring young people as well. Source: TorontoSun.com.

Labels: jobs, police, summer_programs

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Lee County, in Southwest Florida, has released a list of "top 10 teens in trouble", in hopes of cutting down on juvenile crime in the area.

"In Lee County, the sheriff's office says six percent of criminals are responsible for close to half the crime. That is why the sheriff's office's new anti-crime unit constantly checks up on the teens on the new top ten list. The goal is to make sure they are staying out of trouble. But deputies say just letting the teens know they are being watched can also scare them away from breaking the law."

Teen are able to get off the list by improving their behavior and staying out of trouble. Read more at NBC-2.com.

Labels: juvenile crime, awareness, police

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Calls from the Milwaukee school district to police have become a daily occurrence. Over 127 MPS employees reported being physically assaulted in the first semester of the school year.

"The violence is worst at a handful of schools, and is caused by a small percentage of the district's 90,000 students. But their actions are taking a tool on staff, teachers, taxpayers and students who want to learn."

The district has received an additional $1 million in funding which will, in part, cover the cost of a school policing pilot program. Read more at JSOnline.com.

Labels: violence, schools, police

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments