Campbell Collegiate is one of the nine public high schools in Regina. It is located near the University of Regina in the Whitmore Park community. The primary population within Campbell Collegiate are adolescents ages 14-18 with some variations in age. Campbell Collegiate is a very large school that has around 1400 students this year (C. Hock, personal communication, September 13, 2017). Observations were made of how students interact with each other, what they wear to school, and conversations had in the main lobby, cafeteria, and parking lot. The observations made pointed towards drug and alcohol abuse for multiple students within Campbell Collegiate. Several students were wearing HUF brand socks which display multiple marijuana leafs on them. One student was taken to the office for wearing these socks during gym period. Large groups of students were talking about getting drunk at a party over the Thanksgiving long weekend. A group of males were talking about “being high” in their class pictures so they would have a picture of them “stoned” on their student card.
Child and Youth Addictions Counselling
Around the guidance office they have several posters about drug and alcohol use and counselling services from Child and Youth. The guidance counsellors were approached and asked about the Child and Youth program that is offered at Campbell Collegiate. Child and Youth Services is a part of the Mental Health and Addictions Services offered by Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region (RQHR, 2017). An addictions worker from Child and Youth visits Campbell Collegiate every Tuesday and meets with at risk adolescents who are struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. For a student to be assessed and receive counselling from the Child and Youth worker, a student must have a referral from the guidance counsellor. Referrals can be made by having a discussion with the student about potential substance abuse, if the parents of the student express concerns to the school, or if the student is observed being drunk or high while on school property (W. Watts, personal communication, October 18, 2017).
The Child and Youth worker meets with the students for a half hour to an hour each session, discusses what is going on in their lives, and why that may impact their substance abuse. The Child and Youth worker provides the student with supports, treatment options if wanted, and the ability to talk to someone who is not a staff member at Campbell. Addictions counselling that is done with Child and Youth does not force the student to stop the high risk behaviours unless the student asks for assistance in doing so. The counselling focus more on the reasons why the student is abusing substances, harms that may come from substance abuse, teaching of coping mechanisms and general support for the student (W. Watts, personal communication, October 18, 2017).
Addictions counselling by Child and Youth is a specific and individualized harm reduction that focuses on the harms associated with substance abuse at Campbell Collegiate. The International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA, 2010) states that “harm reduction refers to policies, programmes and practices that aim primarily to reduce adverse health, social, and economic consequences of the use of psychoactive drugs without necessarily reducing drug consumption”. This harm reduction strategy is beneficial to the students who receive the counselling, and allows the staff at Campbell to refer students to appropriately trained health care professionals for assistance.
Benefits of Addictions Counselling
To understand the benefits of a student receiving counselling for substance abuse, we need to understand the harms associated with adolescents abusing drugs and alcohol. Alcohol is the most commonly used psychoactive substance among adolescents in Canada (Health Canada, Office of Research and Surveillance, Controlled Substances and Tobacco Directorate, 2015). Binge drinking can be defined as having 5 or more drinks within 2 hours for males and 4 or more drinks within 2 hours for females (CDC, 2010). Adolescents who binge drink are at a higher risk for fights, injuries, and drunk driving (Lo, Weber, & Cheng 2013). Unprotected sex and illicit drug use have been directly linked to alcohol use among youths (Fairbairn, Wood, Dong, Kerr, & Debeck, 2017; Millburn, Rotheram-Borus, Rice, Mallet, & Rosenthal, 2006). Since the brain is still developing until age 25, the initiation of cannabis use prior to this age can alter brain structures and areas including those responsible for memory, cognition and executive functioning (Fischer et al., 2011; George & Vaccarino, 2015; McInnis & Porath-Waller, 2016). Early cannabis use is a risk factor for developing cannabis use disorder (CUD) defined by the DSM-5 as a problematic pattern of cannabis use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Students at Campbell who use drugs and alcohol are putting not only themselves but others at risk. Addictions counselling provided by Child and Youth remains confidential unless the student is at risk for harming themselves or someone else (W. Watts, personal communication, October 18, 2017). Counselling sessions follow a guideline like that of the Secure Youth Detox Centre (SYDC) here in Regina on Hamilton Street, but in an outpatient scenario (W. Watts, personal communication, October 18, 2017). Similar subjects between the programs include: gaining a better understanding of substance use/abuse and related issues, identifying patterns of substance use/abuse, and learning and participating in pro-social skills, healthy lifestyle choices and self-care (RQHR, 2015). Students are not forced or pressured into stopping drug or alcohol use, but it is encouraged that they do.
Substance use is common with adolescents, yet substance abuse is normally influenced by issues within the home or family unit including homelessness, family breakdown, and mental illness (Mahmood, 2016). Counselling sessions often find underlying issues affecting the youth that even they were unaware of (Ivey, Ivey, & Zalaguett, 2013). Developing an understanding of underlying issues that may be affecting them, and learning healthy coping mechanisms reduces harms associated with substance abuse, and gives the students the knowledge to decide their own path.
Challenges of Addictions Counselling
One big challenge that is associated with the counselling service is that the Child and Youth worker is only at Campbell Collegiate on Tuesdays. Each student sees the counsellor up to an hour each session, which means there are only 7-8 session available each Tuesday on average. There is a waitlist for students to see the counsellor, which means these students are still doing high-risk behaviours that can be dangerous to themselves and those around them. Students who need to be reassessed, and continue to need the counselling take precedence over those on the waitlist. Campbell has 1400 students that attend school there, this ratio between students and addictions counsellors are not beneficial. A survey done by Health Canada, Office of Research and Surveillance, Controlled Substances and Tobacco Directorate (2015) found that 70% of youth that participated in the survey consumed alcohol products regularly. Having 1 counsellor, 1 day of the week for 1400 youth is unsatisfactory.
Many adolescents lead normal and healthy lives during the week day, yet participate in high risk behaviours like binge drinking or drug use on the weekends. Campbell is a high school which runs Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 3:30 pm. It is hard for staff to be able to see if students are participating in high risk behaviours if they show no sign of that lifestyle during the week. Adolescents often do not want to disappoint those in power positions, and put on a façade to hide what goes on in their personal life, and the potential high risk behaviours they are involved in (Baier, 1986). This means that some students who need help with substance abuse that would benefit greatly from the support given by the Child and Youth counsellor, slip through the cracks.
In conclusion, the addictions counselling service that is offered at Campbell Collegiate by Child and Youth is a great program that benefits students who show signs of substance abuse. The counselling provided helps the students to dig deep and search for potential triggers or situations that may have influence on their substance abuse. The counsellors provide teaching on coping mechanisms, education on safe practices, healthy lifestyle choices, and self-care that can reduce the harms associated with drug and alcohol abuse. A limitation of this program is that only 1 Child and Youth worker comes to Campbell on Tuesdays, and can only meet with 7-8 students that day. Ways to improve this program would be having a dedicated Child and Youth worker who is in the school Monday to Friday and can meet with multiple students on any day of the week. This allows the Child and Youth worker to assess the students on the waitlist, and to make observations of students who may benefit from being referred to the program.