AWARENESS TEAM … Three of the members of the Montpelier JH/Hs Awareness Team who helped at the event called “The More You Know” held on Tuesday, March 1, 2020 were Kaylee Mills, Hannah Martin and Olivia Kannel. They happily shared information about the ways they try to make life happier and safer for other students and themselves at their school. (PHOTO BY REBECCA MILLER, STAFF)
By: Rebecca Miller
Shock and dismay…relief to find assistance…sadness over what the world has become especially for teens…these were just a few of the feelings that could be seen on the faces of those in attendance at the Montpelier event called “The More You Know.”
Hosted by the school, in partnership with ECHO (Educating Communities on Healthy Opportunities), Montpelier Police Department and the Health Department, the event had a dozen display tables loaded with information and freebies.
Those present with helpful pamphlets, displays and ability to answer questions and give encouragement included: Project Respect with Community Pregnancy Centers; National Youth Advocate Program which offers mental health help in the county and the schools; CCMEP (Comprehensive Case Management Employment Program) and Public Assistance, both from Williams County Job and Family Services; Recovery Services of NWOhio; Maumee Valley Guidance; NOCAC (Northwest Ohio Community Action Commission); WC Health Department health educator; Montpelier Jr. High/High School Awareness Team; Hidden in Plain Sight/ECHO Coalition; Montpelier PD; NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) 40 years of peer led support groups; Integrity Matters; Hope Community Center; Safe Communities/Teen Driving (Health Dept.); and Never Let Go Ministries.
There were also special speakers for the entire group to hear while enjoying pizza, chips, pop and cookies provided and served by the Awareness Team. Topics covered were ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences), Catch My Breath (info on Vaping) and Social Media Apps.
The Awareness Team was introduced first, by the Emcee for the evening, High School Principal Su Thorp. The students shared about what their group does on campus to help students steer clear of unsafe situations.
They focus on positive influence, anti-bullying, anti-vaping, anti-drugs and alcohol abuse, stirring up kindness amongst the student body, and helping their peers understand how to deal with things like dating violence.
They also mentioned that Mrs. Michelle Kannel, the school Care Coordinator, has helped some of them go to training events for them to learn how to be strong leaders.
Montpelier school nurse, Keisha Shoup, explained how ACEs can affect a lifetime. ACEs are Adverse Childhood Experiences, fairly new in research have shown that extremely difficult events in childhood actually affect the person throughout life.
These events happen before 18 and here in Williams County 22.9% of the population are under age 18. Locally there is a push to help everyone understand how these are affecting students and what to do to help them.
There is a 10-question quiz that helps people find out which children are in need of some assistance. The traumatic events can include different types of abuse, household challenges and other things that cause sadness or fear.
As these children grow up it affects the community if they had high aces. How to prevent: some methods are simple and others are more difficult, first is education, but the number one thing that helps is having at least one adult in their life who provides stability and a healthy relationship with them. This is a buffer to help them stay on a healthy track.
Shoup said there are screenings and good books available to help the community grow in knowledge in this topic. She clarified about the aces quiz, if a person scores high or low, it does not automatically mean they will turn out a certain way.
There are items that are unaccounted for, but these can help us find and assist those who are going through rough times.
Taylor Pratt, from the WCHD, spoke about the Vaping prevention program called “Catch My Breath”. She let everyone take a short quiz on what they know about Vaping, before beginning her talk with a power point.
She showed pictures of all the very different styles of eCigarettes and vaping tools. They are all battery powered devices that allow the user to draw vapor in when they inhale.
What actually comes out is an aerosolized vapor, not a normal steam type vapor. It is not water and it is not harmless.
It just gives that illusion. There are chemicals in all of them that are being inhaled along with nicotine.
There is a study now that has shown that vaping changes the brains of “The Guinea Pig Generation”, which is what the younger users are being called.
They can cause seizures and severe lung disease and there have been up to 68 deaths attributed to vaping in one year’s time.
The devices have evolved over the past few years quite quickly and have become easy to disguise now, with even shirts and hoodies specifically designed to help e-vapers hide it.
The flavors were designed to mask the taste and persuade younger users to try it. The FDA has tried to control it, but the industry has figured out ways to get around it. There are many accessories as well as the actual vape devices, along with specific marketing.
There was a small decline of users in 2020 but there are still too many students using them. Unfortunately, there is a likelihood that students using eCigarettes move on to smoking real cigarettes.
They start because they are curious, it tastes good, to have fun with friends or to relax and release tension, according to a survey.
Teens are now called “Replacement Users” by the tobacco industry as they are trying to gain new users of tobacco to replace those who have died or quit. The ads are quite subtle and even get teens to try as part of a contest.
They are online popups, student eye level posters on the doors of gas stations and other places such as magazines. They make it look like a social experience and easy to hide from anyone.
Things to look for in your teens are dry mouth, beginning to burn incense or candles, bad cough, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, increased heart rate, fever, chills or fatigue, quick mood changes, difficulty concentrating, or irritability. Sometimes there is a loss of appetite or a tendency to overeat.
She highly recommended chatting with your teens in a non-threatening way about vaping to help them realize this is not a good choice to make.
There are resources to help young people quit, who have already started. She stressed the importance of checking up on them in every area of their life, even though they may feel like you don’t trust them.
Montpelier Police Chief Dan McGee agreed with that thought, saying strongly that parents are responsible for their children and should know what is on their phones.
He and Montpelier School Resource Officer, Stephanie Mills, spoke last, concerning Social Media Apps and what parents can do to keep their children safe.
Chief McGee was very upfront on what apps are “bad” for kids to have on their phones, with some of the worst being Snapchat, TikTok and Meet Me. In their pamphlet, they listed the names and danger level of each one from 1 being the lowest to 10 being the highest.
(Those are Amino uses interest specific communities – 5; Houseparty allows group chats and video chats – 8; Kik allows users to text, send images and videos level 8; MeetMe uses GPS to allow users to meet new people nearby level 8; WhatsApp has free messaging and texting application level 8; and Whisper that allows “anonymous” message posting including images level 8.)
He said that Snapchat is one of the worst as it encourages keeping things hidden and secret as things are deleted almost immediately after sending.
He said there are a lot of problems with Snapchat. He then alerted the parents that Snapchat has a private folder called “My Eyes Only” which the user can activate and he highly encouraged that it be found and deleted.
“They are your kid. Don’t be naïve enough to believe they are perfect. It is your job to be involved in their lives and stop them before they do something bad,” he stated.
He stressed that parents and caregivers need to be aware of all the apps that their children are using, insist that the bad ones are deleted and even learn how to keep them from downloading and deleting them for use when you are not around.
He made it clear that all of these are used for predators to find and harm young people. Showing nude pictures of themselves and looking at “nudes” of others has become sadly rampant. This event was to give parents the tools needed to combat this.
SRO Mills also spoke about the My Eyes Only folder and offered to help anyone who needs it, to find the one on their child’s phone.
She said, “Kids do not deserve social privacy on their phones. We know they want their privacy, but they do not deserve it on their phones.”
The “My Eyes Only” folder is only on the device on which it is used. “Most of the problems we see at school stem from social media,” she said, adding that it is sad but true, mostly on snapchat.
They recommended putting Net Nanny or Life 360 on their phones to help protect them.
Five Tips for Parents of phone users:
1. Each app has a minimum age allowed. Know what they are.
2. Social Media Language includes codes and numbers. Know the language. (They offered a folder with a long list of acronyms.)
3. Disabling Location allows you to disable the location for apps so do that, making sure to keep the location enabled for parent tracking apps and for “find my phone.”
4. Screen Time limits need to be set, by setting them on the phone so that “gadgets are not the focus of your children’s time.”
5. Privacy levels need to be set so that apps do not allow public view, and limit children’s followers to people they know.
Before the evening ended, there was a drawing for four $25 gift cards to Miller’s New Market and one Montpelier Gift Prize.
Chief McGee said that he hopes that if this event is held again, there will a lot more in attendance as it is very needed.
For anyone who missed this event and would really like to know more information, Principal Thorp welcomes a call to the school.
She explained that they will connect you to whatever group can help you with your questions. Montpelier Schools number is 419-485-6700.
Rebecca can be reached at rebecca@thevillagereporter.com
