When the Stand Strong Coalition put its second-annual “Not My Kid” drug- and alcohol-awareness event together with a format that was similar to the first event, attendance went down — but viewership went through the roof, officials say.
About 150 suburban parents came to Stevenson High School on Sept. 30 to listen to a panel of 11 speakers from a wide range of backgrounds swap information and ideas about heroin, keg and pill parties, adolescent neurology and more. The Stand Strong organization’s first “Not My Kid” event took place last fall with a similar panel, and that evening brought more than 200 listeners to the school’s Performing Arts Center.
But Stand Strong founder Jamie Epstein said she was thrilled with the outcome regardless, because of the power of streaming video. Another 266 viewers tuned in to watch the forum on their computers, she said, through the streaming site High School Cube. That made for an audience even larger than the first.
“I was a little disappointed at first with the lower turnout, until I saw the online numbers,” Epstein said. “I want people to watch it, however they feel most comfortable.”
As it did in 2014, “Not My Kid” featured professionals from medicine, law enforcement and education, as well as family members of overdose victims. The invitees took turns sharing their concerns about the prevalence of drugs and alcohol in Lake County, and several said after the event that they picked up new information from listening to each other.
Epstein said she paid particular attention to Bill McNamara, coach of the Stevenson football team, Illinois’ reigning 8A state champions. She said she was impressed by his expectations for player conduct: Student-athletes should watch each others’ behavior, and confront one another when one begins to drift into dangerous activities.
“He was saying ‘We expect you to not do drugs or alcohol,’ instead of ‘Don’t get in trouble this weekend,'” she said.
Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Nerheim, another speaker, said he was most impressed by the presentation from Dr. William Watson, director of trauma at Advocate Condell Medical Center.
Watson shared with the audience the latest research in adolescent brain development —how, during the high school and college years, one’s mind is physically rewiring itself, starting at the back of the cranium and ending, often around age 24 or 25, at the forehead. He cautioned parents about letting teens and young adults stunt this process with alcohol or marijuana, and Nerheim said that Watson left him with a lot to consider.
“This is information that needs to be made more accessible to the public,” Nerheim said.
Nerheim broke down the process through which heroin might enter a family’s home. Typically made in Mexico, the powerful opiate moves up a criminal “pipeline” to Chicago, which has become a nationwide distribution hub, he said — then the heroin that stays in this area comes to Lake County, where dealers are seeking wealthy young people.
“There’s money here, there’s kids here who have access to resources,” Nerheim said. “That makes it prime territory.”
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The heroin in this area is about 80 percent pure, he said, which means users no longer need to inject it with a needle —smoking or snorting it will suffice.
“We are in the midst of an epidemic,” he said.
Epstein credited Stevenson’s public information coordinator, Jim Conrey, with reeling in a digital audience that was larger than the first year’s in-person audience.
“He marketed the heck out of this,” she said.
In an Oct. 2 email, McNamara said he thought attending future “Not My Kid” panels “should be mandatory for all parents with children in middle school, junior high and high school.”
Epstein guaranteed that more are coming — her group recently received a $625,000 federal grant — but said they would try to increase live attendance by altering the format, in ways they have not yet determined.
“I’m not sure we’ll do it exactly the same next year,” she said.
Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer