Published: April 17, 2009 10:54 pm      

Drug prevention program today at Ashland Town Center

Ashland — The Boyd and Greenup County Champions for a Drug Free Kentucky, a local substance abuse prevention coalition coordinated by Pathways Regional Prevention Center, will host “notMYkid” workshops at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. today at the Ashland Town Center.

NotMYkid is a national initiative that educates parents, schools and youth on substance abuse prevention. The workshops will help parents create a family drug prevention plan that includes the use of a home drug test kit as a key prevention method. Area parents are invited to attend, but workshops are not open to youth.

Parents will learn about drug issues, trends and terminology, view photos of paraphernalia and receive tips about talking to their children about drugs and information to establish a proactive drug prevention plan for their families. Parents also will be given a First Check drug test kit to take home with them. The kits test for seven illicit and five prescription drugs.

“The notMYkid program is unique because it encourages proactive, two-way communication between parent and child to prevent drug use before it happens,” said Julie Shockley, manager of adult educational services for notMYkid.

“We provide resources so parents can develop a substance abuse prevention plan that works for their family, and offer home drug test kits which offer kids an easy way to say no to peer pressure.”

Brooke Elswick, liaison for the Champions, said there is evidence parents have much influence on children. “The No. 1 reason youth give for not doing drugs is parents — fear of parental consequences or fear of disappointing their parents,” Elswick said.

Brenda Hale, a Champions member and former Champions chairwoman, recently attended a notMYkid workshop at the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America Conference in Washington, D.C.

“I work with parents every day and wanted to bring the workshops to our region to give parents the tools they need to be proactive with their children about substance abuse,” she said.