Research on the Teenage Brain and Substance Use

Samantha Borkovic (lk)
During the months of April and May, students in 8-12 grades will have an advocacy or advisory lesson on substance prevention. One of the best practices for helping adolescents make healthy choices is to teach them about the developing teenage brain (video here) and to encourage delayed use. The National Institute of Drug Abuse recently published new research that found the teenage brain more prone to marijuana addiction than previously thought (article link here). We also know from our work with the Freedom from Chemical Dependency organization that when schools and parents have clear expectations about substance use and talk openly about it with students, students are more likely to delay use and not engage in high-risk behaviors. If you would like to learn more about how to talk with your child or the efforts we are taking at school, please reach out to our counseling team: Mrs. Borkovic (sborkovic@steds.org) or Ms. Mahovetz (mmahovetz@steds.org).
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