On Sunday, October 28, prefects and peer educators attended a presentation in Getz Auditorium, designed to teach how to approach and care for a student who is abusing drugs and alcohol. The speaker, George Brown, is a member of the staff of Freedom from Chemical Dependency (FCD), a nonprofit substance abuse prevention organization, with the goal of educating students across the United States about drug and alcohol use, and ultimately, the dangerous effects these substances can have on the user and those around him or her. Brown began his talk with several personal anecdotes, speaking of his own problems in the past, the effects of his actions, and similar recurrent situations among his friends.

Brown Explains his Past

Brown explained his former problems with drugs and alcohol, describing a never ending cycle of depression and helplessness. As an alcoholic and drug addict, Brown was unable to take charge of his life in the way that he truly desired. The changing point in this cycle of addiction came to Brown when his mother said to him, “When are you going to grow up?” Brown then acknowledged what he was doing and came out of denial, which, as he later explained, is one of the most important steps in treating a problem. When Brown decided to change his actions, it felt as though he had put down an enormous burden that had been pushing him below the level of success he wanted to attain in his life. After rehab and participation in such organizations as Alcoholics Anonymous, Brown came out an altered individual, free from addictions to harmful substances and enjoying his life immensely. He was elated by the surfeit of natural fun available without substance-induced highs.

Shifting the Speech to Students

After describing his own personal experiences, Brown shifted the focus to other students (at Choate). He began by saying, “Now what we have to do is figure out…how do we help someone without them having to go through the torture that I did?” With his guidance, students began brainstorming ways in which they could recognize problems in a fellow student. Among the suggestions regarding problem recognition, were sudden weight loss or gain, shifts in priorities, a habit of lying to friends, changes in hygiene, depression, mood swings, poor treatment of friends, and isolation. Brown went on to mention that there is no specific set of changes that will identify someone as a substance abuser. He stated that sometimes you should just “be observant, and if you have an uncomfortable feeling, you feel something just isn’t right, you should not discount your gut feeling.” After learning how to identify the presence of a problem, the students were educated on the “informal intervention,” the solution method Brown decided to focus on.

Making Students Interact

In order to stir interaction and allow the students to practice such interventions, Brown organized a short round of role play. He chose two students, Ashley McGeary ’08 and Max Mullen ’08. During this improvisational situation, McGeary acted as the substance user, and Mullen the interventionist. When they had finished their scene, Brown instigated a conversation concerning the positive and negative aspects of Mullen’s intervention. Mullen received much praise for his non-confrontational, caring approach, and advice to steer the conversation in a more direct way when the problem was not within conversational reach.

The second pair was Jin Ha ’08 and Jack Fallon ’08, with Fallon as the interventionist. The focus in this role play was a noted “problem” with “mood swings” in Ha. Fallon also received commendation for his kind approach and bits of advice from the audience for improvement. Jin also received applause for his humorous acting, which proved to be quite entertaining.

While discussing these approaches to an informal intervention, Brown also stressed two situations in which an informal intervention is not appropriate: when the user is under the influence of the substance and when the user and interventionist are in public. Otherwise, informal interventions can have extremely positive results. Emily Brenner, co-director of the Prefect Program said, “He emphasized to the peer educators and prefects that intervening actively when drug or alcohol abuse is recognized can make all the difference in someone’s life.” Brown went on to discuss the importance of heartstrings, expression of feelings, and use of facts. He concluded the presentation with these three human aspects of life, and stated his organization’s willingness to help all students. Brown directed students to the FCD’s website, fed.org/forums, which contains an open discussion board in which students can pose questions that would be answered by FCD staff.

The members of FCD are earnest in their desire to help students. As director of Student Activities, Jim Yanelli states, “The staff of FCD has been working with Choate for over 15 years… Peer educators will be teaching about the consequences of substance abuse next term in dorms and to day student groups, and the FCD program is a piece of the group’s training on the topic. FCD staff members are scheduled to speak to fourth formers in the Health & Wellness course later in the winter term and will be a resource for peer educators as they prepare for a school-wide Health Fair in January.”

Students React

The program was also received well by students and faculty alike. Prefect Kim Solow ’08 states, “I thought it was helpful because I feel that some people do not feel comfortable having an intervention with one of their prefectees or friends.” It seems this program has given more confidence to student leaders in the form of a wider stock of strategies to draw on. Emily Brenner states, “I think that the session was quite successful. George Brown’s presentation provided our student leaders with vital information on how best to guide friends and fellow classmates who struggle with alcohol and drug addictions toward support services.” Ben Firke ’08 has similar thoughts, saying, “I thought that George from FCD explicated the seemingly irrational process that an individual goes through when they begin to use substances. I have a lot of new strategies now on how to confront a drug problem if it arises in my dorm, and a better understanding of the psyche of a user.”

Many students felt that Mr. Brown connected to the students, and presented a powerful argument against substance abuse. As Mr. Yanelli stated, “George Brown’s presentation was compelling and well received by the prefects and peer educators in attendance.”