April 2017
We believe that physical fitness and healthful choices are essential elements of adolescent growth and development. Gunston promotes healthy life habits through strong programs in athletics and health education, and through social activities that direct students toward making thoughtful personal choices. Gunston provides a safe environment where trusting relationships between generations permit and encourage students to discuss important life issues as they transition into adulthood.
-from Gunston's Statement of Philosophy, Promoting a Healthy Life
Dear Gunston Families,
When my wife was pregnant with our second child, a good friend (who was then single and childless) asked me: "Are you hoping to have a boy or a girl?" As an experienced parent, I simply answered, "I'm just hoping for healthy." As parents, we cherish our children's health, and we understand the essential relationship between health, and the process of growth, development, and joy. Yet as students enter adolescence, they navigate a significant health choice hurdle—the decision to use legal or illegal substances—that can often determine their long-term well-being.
At Gunston, we recognize our essential role in preparing students to make decisions in this realm, and our goal is to partner with students, parents, and the wider community to support healthy choice making. Therefore, let me outline Gunston's comprehensive approach to support our students' healthy decision-making surrounding substance use.
As I note at new student orientation each year, "If you have a high school, you have drug and alcohol concerns." Gunston is no exception. Therefore, we believe strongly that education, current and reliable information, and open, honest dialogue are the essential elements to prevent adolescent substance use and abuse. To this end, Gunston partners with the non-profit organization Freedom from Chemical Dependency (FCD) to deliver a four-year comprehensive prevention program.
Let me review FCD's own definition of their Comprehensive Prevention Program (CPP):
FCD's Comprehensive Prevention Planning (CPP) is a collaborative process – involving faculty, administrators, health care staff, parents, students and trustees – that promotes the health and welfare of young people by effectively meeting strategic prevention goals and objectives that:
- reduce risk factors that contribute to unhealthy behaviors
- identify and intervene on unhealthy behaviors, and
- nurture and strengthen protective factors that contribute to health and well-being.
We recognize that the complete elimination of adolescent substance use and abuse within a school community is not feasible. However, by building a comprehensive and community-oriented 4-year program, and aligning our prevention program with our mission and philosophy, we aim to create a school culture where the social norm is the non-use of substances. We also believe that student leadership, particularly coming from non-using student leaders, reinforces this healthy culture, and can support Gunston's goal of reducing substance use to levels well below the national average for reported use at each grade level. Perhaps most importantly, brain research shows that the longer a student delays their onset of substance use, the less likely they are to develop addiction/dependence over time. In short, a delay of use often equals a reduction in use.
Each year, FCD visits our campus. Every other year, they deliver a four-day program that includes a powerful keynote address, followed by multiple intensive sessions with students at each grade level where the goal is to explore student attitudes, explain social norms, and provide the fact-based and research-based impact of substances on the adolescent brain and body. Also during the four-day program, FCD offers sessions for faculty, parents, and the school leadership. Meanwhile, in the years following the four-day program, we invite FCD back for a two-day program. This is designed as a "booster shot" to support the intensive four-day program, but in a more condensed time format.
Very importantly, every third year Gunston conducts FCD's Attitudes and Behavior Survey and uses the results to inform our program design. This anonymous and comprehensive survey not only tracks the trends of substance use and abuse within our school community, but also seeks to monitor our students' perceptions and attitudes. Our most recent survey showed encouraging trends, and offered insight into Gunston's progress vis-a-vis national norms. We will be re-administering this survey during the upcoming 2017-2018 school year.
Again, delay of use is a primary goal, but for those students who struggle with substance use and abuse, early intervention is crucial. Therefore, the most notable enhancement to Gunston's prevention program is the development of an Early Intervention Team or EIT. Beginning in 2017-2018, this team, comprised of key faculty members trained by FCD, will provide a "safe space" for students (or other community members) to share their concerns about student substance use, including a student's concerns about their own use.
It is important to note that the EIT does not have a disciplinary function; rather, the EIT's goal is to support a climate where student health and well-being is the primary focus. Often when the school becomes aware of potential off-campus student use, and/or we see noticeable declines in a student's motivation and performance, these are typical early markers of substance use concerns. Depending on the nature of a reported or observed concern, the response of the EIT may include sharing the concern with an identified student and their family. In other cases, the EIT will work with relevant parties to coordinate an intervention or therapeutic response.
In addition to our prevention program, Gunston also maintains unyieldingly high expectations regarding a substance-free campus environment. Supporting our core beliefs that the use of drugs or alcohol by students interferes with their intellectual, emotional, and physical well-being, we strictly prohibit the sale, use, possession, or transfer of alcohol or illegal drugs or controlled substances (or offering to buy or sell such substances) on school property or at any school-related function on or off campus. In almost every case, a student's failure to comply with this policy will result in dismissal, as we believe such behavior endangers our school community.
Perhaps the most effective prevention strategy employed by Gunston is simply the Gunston experience itself. A strong academic program, healthy peer relationships, a robust extracurricular and athletics program, and strong student-teacher relationships—each of these supports healthy student development. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and let me note that I have updated my parent letter entitled Reflections on Adolescent Substance Use and Abuse, including the most updated statistical data from the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future study. I urge you to review this letter as a "mini-handbook" to support your child's healthy choices.
Warm Regards,
John A. Lewis, IV
Headmaster
jlewis@gunston.org