Message from the Head of School – October 8, 2021

October 8, 2021 BIS eNews

Three way Conferences
Thank you for scheduling and attending your child’s three way conferences. These conferences send a powerful message to your BIS student that the teacher and parents/guardian are all in this together to support the learning. Thank you for continuing to be engaged in the school experience of your child!

Board Update
I hope you were able to access the important announcement shared (email) by the Board yesterday. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ibu Su and Ibu Regine who I had the opportunity to work closely with over the past three years. We relied on Ibu Su to head up the Finance Topic Group and as well have her finger on the pulse of our community. Ibu Regine was instrumental in aligning BIS fully with ministry regulations allowing BIS to be recognized as a leader of SPK schools in Indonesia and her strong community connections helped position BIS to provide face-to-face learning opportunities whenever we have managed to during the pandemic. I am fully aware of the sacrifices both Board members made over the past three years in terms of time and energy, and for a long time before that, in dedication to helping BIS fulfill its mission and vision statements. Please help me to thank Ibu Su and Ibu Regine when given the opportunity.

For your Term 2 planning:

I remain very hopeful of being able to provide more face-to-face learning in Term II, with students coming onto campus more frequently, reaching 75% levels. Grades 2 through 12 would attend school 3 out of every 4 days. This plan will go into effect once the Health Committee and I have gauged covid levels post-holiday. As soon as we have looked at our data and it indicates we can proceed – we will make the move.

From Freedom from Chemical Dependency
Students helping students
Since 1976, Prevention Solutions (formerly FCD Prevention Works) has worked with schools and other organizations across the United States and around the world to provide students with the knowledge, understanding, and skills they need to make healthy choices about alcohol and other drug use. Among the many vital skills we teach teens, how to help a friend with an alcohol or other drug concern is a key component of our high school prevention education. In this Prevention Solutions e-journal, we will discuss how students can help a peer about whom they are concerned, and how adults who care can support this early, informal intervention.

Students who care
One of the most heartwarming things our Prevention Specialists find, all over the world, is how much teenagers genuinely care about each other. Teens place incredible value on the relationships that they have with their peers. We see evidence of this when students receiving our intensive student education programming ask to speak with a Prevention Specialist after class to express concern about a friend’s alcohol or other drug use behavior.

These students seeking this extra support tend to be carrying a heavy weight. They express reluctance to speak to their friend about their concerns, because they are fearful that such conversations could create conflict in the relationship. For this reason, many teenagers end up remaining silent, but scared for their friend. As adults who care, it is our role to support these students by equipping them to informally intervene on a friend in safe and effective ways.

Why early, informal peer intervention matters
We know that teens are peer driven and can sometimes be more tuned into the lives of their friends than adults are. Retrospective studies of young people in treatment for substance use disorders reveal that some of these youth were using alcohol and other drugs for more than two years without the adults in their life knowing. By the time adults may notice or suspect a problem, chances are that an alcohol or other drug issue may have progressed from initial use to an ongoing and perhaps even severe concern.

On the other hand, the peers of a student who is beginning to use alcohol or another drug may know right away, but not know what to do. This is why effective prevention education that includes informal peer intervention training is so important.

How teens can help friends
The word “intervention” conjures up different ideas for adults and for kids. At Prevention Solutions, we explain that an informal, peer intervention is different than a crisis intervention. A crisis intervention is a formal process led by an adult professional, such as a counselor. Most schools have a professional staff or system for this level of intervention. For teens, however, an informal peer intervention can be used to simply begin the conversation about a substance use concern.

In an early, informal peer intervention, a student expresses their concern for a friend in a healthy way. This type of intervention has the potential to truly aid a friend change course, even helping to save their life.

At Prevention Solutions, we have developed a clear and comprehensive recipe for informal intervention. We encourage students first and foremost to take care of themselves as they feel concern for another. We ask that they learn about the disease of addiction and that they consider speaking to a counselor or other supportive adult about what they themselves are going through as they feel worry for a friend who may have a problem with substances. We then encourage students to find a low-pressure time to speak with their friend, when that friend is not intoxicated, to:

Express care for their friend and affirm the value of the relationship
Example: “We’ve been friends since third grade, and my life would stink without you.”
Share facts with the friend about how their substance use has progressed
Example: “I’ve noticed that at the party last Saturday, you got drunk.”
Use “I” statements to express their own feelings about their friend’s use
Example: “I get so scared when you drink, and I feel like it is affecting our friendship.”
Set boundaries for the friendship to move forward in a healthy way
Example: “Let’s hang out outside of parties for a while. I’m always here for you.”

Your role as a trusted adult
Adults can support students who are concerned about their friends by encouraging them to have health-based informal intervention conversations. In your role, you can:

Explain that substance use is a health issue, in order to destigmatize conversations about it
Encourage students to learn about the risks of teen use from a health perspective
Be available to practice mock informal intervention conversations with teens
Talk with students who have had conversations with their friends after the fact, to offer guidance and reminders for self-care
Link teens with adult resources, like counselors, who can help further.

Effective prevention includes informal intervention
For 45 years, Prevention Solutions has had the opportunity to work with millions of students in 70 countries around the world. Our Prevention Specialists discuss alcohol and other drug misuse prevention with thousands of teens each school year. During this time, our team of highly-trained professionals shares their personal stories of addiction and recovery – of how they got help, often with the support of their friends.

With a prevention approach that includes early and informal peer intervention, young people can become educated and equipped with effective tools to keep healthy kids healthy and reach other kids who need help.

Author
Glenn Hall is a Senior Prevention Specialist with Prevention Solutions serving the organization since 1996. Prior to working with Prevention Solutions, Glenn Hall (“Mr. G”) worked at South Middlesex Opportunity Counseling, a nonprofit organization in Framingham, Massachusetts. He started there as a treatment facilitator at the organization’s Framingham Detox Center, and later served for four years as a substance use counselor and manager of a half-way house for people in early recovery from substance use disorders.

Resources
HealthyChildren.org. (2014). “Intervention Strategies for Concerned Parents.” Adapted from Caring for Your Teenager (Copyright © 2003 American Academy of Pediatrics). Accessed Online: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/teen/substance-abuse/Pages/Intervention-Strategies.aspx