HJHS Students
SPECIAL FAVOR: The school is filled with great youngsters. I am so happy to be able to photograph your activities but it is you that makes me smile. Your quick wit, your enthusiasm and your energy is remarkable. In short, I think the world of all you students and I would really like to continuing to capture your efforts and activities for many years to come. You face many challenges in today's world and saying "NO" is sometimes very hard to do. I would like to ask all of you to please do me a huge favor and read the following story which was written and sent to me by a brave and loving mother who is fighting a battle I hope she and her son win. Please take a few minutes and read the following, thank you...Ted
My name is Carrie Pierson. I have 4 sons. My experience with over the counter drug abuse and narcotics abuse started a couple years ago with one of my son. Fall of 2007, I first knew of my son’s smoking marijuana. At first, I was drug testing him with over the counter urine test every month, thinking I can make him quit. He would test positive for THC and I refused to let him drive until his drug test came back clean. When his drug test came back negative, I thought that was the end of this drug abuse. I was wrong.
About a year ago, I received a phone call from my son’s friend’s mother looking for her son. He stole some Coricidin pills and he is nowhere to be found. Several hours later, he was found…unconscious. He quit breathing couple times on the way to Havana Hospital. He was life flighted to OSF. That was a wake up call for me! I couldn’t believe it was my son’s friend doing drugs. I “knew” his friend better than that!
I started questioning my son’s usage since that was his best friend that was life flighted. Of course, he denied it and of course I believed him. My gut feeling told me my son was abusing OTC drugs, but I didn’t listen to my gut feeling. I told myself, “That is not my son, I know him better than that.”. I was wrong!
My son has always been on the honor roll all through his school years, then he started slipping on his grades his Freshman year. I was thinking it was just a transition from Junior High to High School. His sophomore year’s grades were terrible! Not just little drop in his grades, I mean a huge drop in his grades. My son was sleeping a lot all of the sudden. Of course, I was thinking, “it’s a teenage growth and hormone thing.”. He started skipping school. I would get calls from the high school. The excuse I have gotten from my son was he wasn’t feeling good, or the teacher made him mad. Then, it got to where he would wake up in the morning saying he’s not feeling well and I would let him stay home. He would sleep all morning and by noon, he would “feel better” and go to school.
His attitude and appearance started to change. Change, I mean a total change! He would not take care of his self like he normally would. He would get angry very quickly and at every little thing. He would constantly fight with the family. Again, I was thinking “it’s a teenage thing being moody.”. He had a job, and he started calling in work saying he don’t feel good. When he would get his paycheck, he would be broke in a few days and have “nothing” to show for his money.
We put him at Proctor Drug Rehab and he was there for 5 weeks. He completely succeeded his course. Then I found some pills in a bubble gum wrapper in his dresser. I researched the pills on the internet trying to match up the pills to the photos at
www.drugs.com. He said it must have been one of his 2 friends. Of course, I believed him because 2 of his friends did come to my home to see my son, but my gut feeling told me they were his. I told myself “no, it can’t belong to him because he just succeeded his rehab treatment and he told me they must of belonged to a friend of his that was out to our house.”.His “friends” are using drug friends. I would hear all kinds of “new” names that he is hanging out with. My son would not have his “friends” hang out at our house…or let me meet them. Of course, I told him he can not hang out with those people. But, it did no good.
When he was put on court supervision, he started supplementing marijuana with Coricidin and cough syrup. I started to notice his attitude and appearance was changing for the worst. I had to peel my eyes back open and admit that my son is not the son I once knew. I tried to put him back at Proctor Rehab the 2nd time. He ran away. After we found him, the police said that we can not force him to go if he does not want the help since he was 17, (The first time at Proctor, he was 16.). Of course, I had no other option, but to bring him home. When he finally failed the pee test at his PO office, he was directed to go to Chestnut. He did go to Chestnut, only for 3 weeks. He was listening to his “using” friends and they were telling him that he is not court ordered to be at Chestnut. He staged a fight and got kicked out of Chestnut. He then had to go to court for his court supervision. He was then ordered to go back to Chestnut or serve 12 months jail time. He chose Chestnut. He was there for total of about 5 months.
While he was at Chestnut, he said he had to get away from the Havana High School. He dropped out his Senior year, and studied for his GED while at Rehab. When he successfully discharged Chestnut, he went on to SRC college. He also cut off his “using friends”. He made new friends. I will ALWAYS have that thought in the back of my mind that he is going to slip and relapse one day.
I thought this would never happen to my family because we don’t do drugs and we raised our boys right. I was wrong! This can happen to ANYONE’S family!
I want to get this story out and make everybody aware of the OTC drug abuse that contains DXM which is abbreviated for dextromethorphan. I didn’t know what DXM was. I had to learn all this the hard way on my own. I searched the internet, and learned from Chestnut. I keep ALL my medicine in a locked metal box. I will still continue to do that, not because of my son, but for the safety of my household. I believe everybody’s eyes are wide shut. I know mine was.
Posters
for life...the following story is from Jason
Blanchette:
The 5th and 6th graders of Havana Junior High came together on Tuesday in the gym to give recognition to 36 of their peers who created posters highlighting reasons for not abusing cough medicine. The reasons ranged from health consequences and addiction to getting in trouble with parents. Many of the reasons came from the classes taught last month by the Havana Area Prevention Team while other students listed reasons from their own internet research.
The prevention team has been working on educating teens about the dangers of cough medication abuse because many myths exist about this over-the-counter medication. HAPT wanted to ensure these students are aware of the truths behind cough medication abuse while they are growing into their teen years. The HAPT taught the students that despite many existing false beliefs, abusing cough medication actually involves serious health risks including damaging specific areas of the brain, vomiting, seizures, and death.
The goal has been to make sure they understand that it’s safe to take medication as recommended by health professionals, but it’s not safe to take it any other way. HAPT coordinated this poster contest with the hope that hearing the message several times in different ways would help the students remember it when they are confronted with myths about cough medicine abuse .
First place winner is Zack Whitlow, who received $25 from HAPT and a free 16x20 family portrait from Ted Connolly and www.62644.com. Second place is Rachel Homan who received $10 from HAPT and a free 11x14 family portrait from Ted Connolly and www.62644.com. Third place is Brianna Brown who received $5 from HAPT and a free 8x10 family portrait from Ted Connolly and www.62644.com.
Every participating student received a free gift certificate from either McDonald’s or Hardee’s. The HAPT is appreciative of the generous support so many people have demonstrated for this cause, including for the gifts from McDonald’s and Hardee’s. The school faculty and staff were most welcoming in opening up the school to HAPT. Sheriff Wayne Youell came to the assembly to show his support for the students and this cause. Ted Connolly was there for photographs and to present the top-winning students with awards and a very generous gift. Ted has also been generous in covering this event, and other efforts to reduce cough medication abuse, on his website www.62644.com. The HAPT is thankful for the generous support of so many community people, but would also like to thank the six businesses who have taken their cough medication out of the reach of teens and either locked them up or placed them behind the counters. They are: Pamida, Oney’s, Circle K, Thornton’s, Casey’s, and Wolters drug store. Thank you everyone!
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