Social Work 432 Presents Substance Use Awareness
This past Thursday, Social Work 432 held a presentation warning students about the dangers of substance use. The presentation was coordinated and produced by students of Social Work 432 and it included a documentary, guest speakers, booths, and raffles.
The presentation started with a showing of “If They Had Known”, a documentary presented by the Clay Soper Memorial Fund. The documentary, which starred Clay Soper’s family and friends, shared the life of Clay Soper and what happened the night he died due to mixing prescription drugs with alcohol.
The heartbreaking documentary was made to raise awareness of the dangers of mixing prescription drugs with alcohol and the Social Work class thought it would be fitting to show in hopes of raising awareness to Bridgewater students.
Once the documentary had ended, Ann Doyle, BSU Wellness Center Coordinator, opened the discussion to allow for viewers to ask any questions or share comments about the film or substance use in general.
Faith Parent, a student in Social Work 432, spoke out during this time and told the audience, “The point of this presentation was to raise awareness…to show people that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, anyone can be affected by this.”
Once the Q&A portion concluded, the students from Social Work 432 arranged for the audience to have two guest speakers: two organizers of The Champion Plan and East Bridgewater Police Chief Scott Allen.
Both speakers were there to talk about the resources that are being offered to people of all ages in this area. The Champion Plan is stationed in Brockton, MA. and is a resource to anyone with a substance abuse problem. They help with detox programs, housing, finding aid, resume building, providing transportation and translators, and more.
Police Chief Allen spoke about his time on the police force and how his opinion about the substance abuse problem in this area has changed over the years.
He spoke about his new opinion to the audience, “We’re not going to arrest our way out of the problem. The only way to get out of this crisis is to come together as a community.”
Police Chief Allen is working with his officers and officers across Massachusetts to ensure that people who need help, get help. He’s also trying to change the way officers view people with addictions and how those situations are handled.
Concluding the presentation, there were booths set up from a bunch of local organizations to tell students about what resources they can offer to anyone with a substance abuse problem. The organizations included: Stairway to Recovery, BSU Outreach Education, The Champion Plan, Gosnold, PCO Hope, and more.
Nicole Berthold, a Social Work 432 student, and organizer of this event said that she wanted to organize a presentation about substance use because she wants BSU students to be aware of the dangers.
“It affects so many people on our campus…it’s time to come together on our campus and make people aware of how serious the consequences are,” Berthold said.
If you or anyone you know needs help or more information on the dangers of substance use please visit these links:
http://opioidoverdoseprevention.org/bmoocp/champion-plan/
https://gandaracenter.org/stairway-to-recovery/
