Gracias por crear una mayor conciencia sobre las fentapíldoras en su comunidad comunicándose con su distrito escolar para pedirles que implementen una nueva educación sobre las drogas.
Las escuelas son lugares ocupados con muchas prioridades en competencia. Tienen recursos limitados para hacer todo lo que se les pide. Es posible que no estén configurados para tomar medidas rápidas en un problema en tiempo real que no tuvieron en cuenta en su planificación de rutina y en los procesos de diseño del plan de estudios de varios años. Además, los funcionarios a menudo pueden desconfiar de las agendas políticas u ocultas. Por eso es importante considerar esto como una asociación: primero educarse a sí mismo y luego educar al distrito escolar para que ellos a su vez puedan educar a la comunidad de padres y estudiantes. En este esfuerzo todos tenemos el mismo objetivo: servir y proteger a nuestros preciosos niños a través de la educación. Teniendo en cuenta esta idea de asociación, hemos ideado el enfoque PAIR. Cada distrito escolar y comunidad es diferente, así que use este enfoque como una guía general... y haga lo que funcione para usted. No es necesario que siga todos estos pasos, ¡pero esperamos que obtenga algunas buenas ideas de esto!
Para ver un seminario web grabado sobre Convencer a las escuelas para crear conciencia sobre las píldoras falsas, haga clic aquí .
Si tiene preguntas sobre este proceso o sugerencias sobre cómo mejorarlo, comuníquese con jennifer@songforcharlie.org . También envíenos un correo electrónico si tiene éxito en llevar este material a sus escuelas locales. ¡Queremos saber cómo le está yendo!
¡Buena suerte y gracias por ayudar a difundir la conciencia!
El enfoque PAIR
Planifique, encuentre aliados, identifique lo que quiere y solicite acción.
PLAN
A little time planning can go a long way and give you much more success than just forwarding a mail or a link. Think through these topics and be sure to do your research.
Make sure you have a good understanding of what is happening with the drug landscape in America with the introduction of fentanyl so you are able to competently and confidently speak to the issues.
Are you a bereaved parent yourself or have a close friend or family member who is? Personal stories have huge impact. Think about if and how you want to tell that story as part of this effort in a way that makes the impact you are looking for and respects your child and family. Decide what aspects of your story you are not willing to share or are not important to the main message.
Locate one or more relatively recent news stories from your own community or those nearby (google ‘fentanyl’ and your city or state). The more current and specific the story is about age, Fentapills, social media, etc., the better. Save these web links.
Find key data points and information about fentanyl/fentapills from reputable places that support the idea that this is needed in your community. If you can access local data and information through your local health department or law enforcement, that is ideal. Also be on the lookout for specific data points in local news articles. Songforcharlie.org is a good place for national numbers. Here are some links that can help you find national and state insights:
If your school district publishes their learning standards and/or curriculum, find out what is already included on this topic. If you have a teacher contact that teaches health curriculum, they can help you find this. It can be helpful if you know the specific learning standard/target you are trying to influence (i.e.: “Educate students on the social and health impacts of misuse of controlled substances”). If you can get your hands on classroom content, it is helpful to know if it specifically covers fake pills that can easily bought on social media so you know if there is a gap in the existing curriculum being taught in your schools.
ALLY IDENTIFICATION
It’s crucial to have allies in this work. One parent making some noise from the outside will probably not be enough to create action. Think about and identify specifically who these people are. It can make sense to have general conversations/emails with these people as part of this work to ‘feel them out’, get ideas, and strengthen the allyship along the way.
Of course there is power in numbers, so if you have friends and neighbors who will actively join you in this work, great! The school district may prefer to have one lead partner from your group though.
Many districts/schools have school resource officers and some have centralized safety/security personnel. These people should really understand the risks and know firsthand about what kids in your schools are experiencing. Hopefully they already know about Fentapills, but if not, they are prime candidate to educate and find an ally. If your angle is about awareness and education, they likely will be very supportive. If you are talking to them about school procedures, discipline, investigations, etc they will likely be more wary.
There is probably an administrator of curriculum and instruction in your district, and depending on the size of the district they may have a large staff including someone responsible for health instruction that could include drug dangers.
Reach out to law enforcement, public health offices, and local addiction/mental health agencies. At law enforcement, there may be a public affairs officer and someone whose job is specifically aligned with schools. In public health and addiction/mental health agencies you may find all the resources are focused on addiction which may or may not meet your needs. These people can add credibility to your request and they really help understand the landscape of players and priorities that exist.
These are your natural allies and it definitely makes sense to talk to them, but they may have no interest, time, or ability to effect things at a larger level. If they do, great! If not, they can still point you in the right direction and make connections.
This person can be an especially good ally because they will be plugged into the latest local news, have a good connection with the superintendent, and think about all of the district’s activities broadly. Especially if you are thinking about a public awareness campaign or community conversation, this is a good person to know.
In most districts this is an elected official. They work for you! Most of the time, these people are active listeners and want to understand your concerns. They can be very effective in helping you drive action. This is also a political role and their response may be influenced by their perceptions of the issue. So, if you do engage your school board member, plan to be educated and focused on the topic and what you are looking for.
Ultimately this person will need to approve any actions taken. Therefore they can be your very best ally and activator, but also can be a blocker if they are not hearing support from their staff for this work. Any early conversations with the Superintendent might be best framed in general terms and with a request for who would be the right people to work with in the school district.
IDENTIFY WHAT YOU WANT
This is a big topic and there are many actions and potential avenues to make an impact. Before you make a formal request, think about and identify what you are really after. New legislation, rallies, or geo-political topics like Chinese fentanyl, Mexican cartels, or social media regulation aren’t going anywhere with schools. Here are some possible ideas for things to request of your schools based on the work done with Beaverton School District where all three of these things happened:
Getting messages in front of kids directly is probably the most impactful thing that can happen. Are you envisioning classroom instruction for students? Will the instruction cover fentapills, social media dangers, stress management, etc? The developed curriculum from Beaverton School District is focused on fentapills and is free and ‘ready to go’ for schools including lesson plans, classroom aids, etc.
Would you like to broadly educate parents and teachers? Do you see that as a Zoom seminar with other experts? Are you willing to share your story in this forum? Is there an existing drug awareness night that you could participate in? The BSD Fake & Fatal website has a YouTube recording of the 90 minute Community Conversation in English and Spanish.
Are you looking for the school to provide public service announcements on their website/social media , include information in parent newsletters, create fliers for students to hand out at lunch? Who is the target of this campaign? Has the school district done something like this before that you could use as a model? Is one of the other agencies you may have reached out to, such as law enforcement or public health, better positioned to do public awareness? If there is a way for the awareness campaign to include students talking to students in their own language, there is a greater chance the message will be heard by them.
REQUEST AND RESPOND
Now that you’ve done gathered resources, found allies, and focused on what you really want to have happen... it’s time to act.
A well written letter that includes some of the information gathered in the planning stage is important. Ensure you include as much data as possible from your local heath department, law enforcement, or new stories about how fentanyl has impacted your community or state. Let them know there are free resources available for them to use. Make what you’re asking for clear but leave it open ended enough for the district to know you are not ‘all or nothing’. Even if they agree with you, they may not have the resources to do everything you are asking for. Be sure to make clear you are looking for a response, not just sending information. Emphasize where you have common goals in protecting and educating children. Try to keep it as apolitical as possible and focused on what the school district sees as within their responsibility. Pick carefully who you are asking to do what so it ends up on the right desk.
Have your allies help you craft your letter or review and revise it. Copy selected allies when you send it and/or let them know you have done that. Decide if you want your allies to also follow up on your request and show their support; if so, specifically ask them to do that.
If you have the bandwidth and desire to help, be sure to offer that and be explicit as you can about how you can help.
Follow up, be willing to modify and revise your request, and ask again if needed.
Show your appreciation for having been listened to, especially if you are able to get results. Share your gratitude publicly on social media, with the news, at a school board meeting, etc.
Let Song for Charlie know about your results. The more we can advertise that schools are taking action, the more motivated other schools will be to also take action… they won’t want to be left behind! Share what your district has done with other parents and families so they can learn from your work.
Por lo general, las decisiones sobre el plan de estudios se toman a nivel de distrito, no a nivel de escuela. Cuando solicite una acción, asegúrese de comunicarse con los que toman las decisiones, tal vez el superintendente o el director del plan de estudios. Si bien un director o maestro de salud puede ser un aliado, en la mayoría de los casos no podrán tomar una decisión por usted.
Las cartas deben ser un equilibrio de emoción y hechos. Sea conciso cuando comparta su historia y dedique la mayor parte de su carta a proporcionar datos que respalden cómo el fentanilo está afectando a su comunidad y describa lo que está pidiendo.
Tenga cuidado con su redacción. Hablar de drogas puede ser un detonante para muchas personas, para bien o para mal. Sugerimos usar algunas de las siguientes palabras para obtener la empatía del lector de la manera más efectiva.
