Parents, schools and communities often are hyper-focused on alcohol and illegal drug use, and rightfully so—these substances, when abused, can cause great harm to teenagers. Yet, this emphasis often causes parents to overlook another problem: over-the-counter (OTC) drug abuse.

When not able to secure booze or harder drugs such as marijuana or prescription pills, teens might turn to OTC medications to attempt a high. Or, kids might try chugging cough syrup or taking motion sickness pills thinking neither can hurt them; after all, these are medicines you can buy at the store.

The concept of student success often gets lost in the perception of student failures. Too often, the attitude of some people, many of whom do not currently have teens themselves, is that high schoolers are collectively disappointing parents, communities and society at large. This negativity isn’t new—just about every generation has engaged in its own “These kids!” moment—but in 2017, with social media and the digital age, it seems louder and our students definitely hear it.

Unfortunately, that message can discourage teens from striving for success and then more success. Little victories are overlooked; bigger accomplishments are diminished. For example, alcohol usage rates have been dropping for teens for a couple decades now, as much as a 60 percent difference since its peak in the 1990s. Yet the mistaken belief of many people is that high school students are out of control with drinking and parties.

According to the Florida Department of Education, there are approximately 200,000 high school seniors in our state. Most of those students will be graduating in the coming weeks. We want all of them to make it safely to the day after graduation…

Graduation is a time for celebration, but it can also be a dangerous time for students. The start of summer already has teens thinking about less responsibility and more fun; adding a milestone such as graduation to the mix gives many students an excuse to party more than they normally would. Unfortunately, in the process, these graduates might endanger their health and risk the safety of others. This can lead to tragedy for students right after one of the most significant achievements of their young lives.

You likely have seen the commercials from the Ad Council: “Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving.” This campaign is aimed at educating people that buzzed is synonymous with impaired, and if you are impaired, you shouldn’t be getting behind the wheel. The goal, of course, is to convince drinkers that if they are tipsy, rather than falling-down drunk, they are, in the eyes of the law, still under the influence and a danger to themselves, their passengers and others on the road.

This message is often difficult to impart to adults, who may think they are fine to drive even after several drinks. For teens, the task is even more challenging; many high schoolers already feel invincible, and many have little experience with how alcohol physiologically affects them.

There's still time to join the generous Joe's Dinner sponsors who are helping kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free while enjoying world famous stone crabs with friends, colleagues and family. The 32nd Annual Dinner at Joe's, co-chaired by Pam Gigante-Bunge & Alfred Bunge and Drs. Linda Neider and Paul Sugrue, will take place on May 15, 2017. Contact us about adding your name to this list of generous sponsors:

Colossal Claw Sponsors:

Baptist Health South Florida

Pam Giganti-Bunge & Alfred Bunge

Coral Gables Trust Company

EWM Realty International | Christie’s International Real Estate

Vicki Kress, this month's Star Ambassador, discovered Informed Families' Ambassador Program one day while searching for Lock Your Meds campaign resources. Familiar with the work of Informed Families, she was delighted to learn that the organization offers free year-round campaign materials provided to schools and organizations across Florida. She wasted no time and signed up right away to bring the four campaigns to Volusia and Flagler Counties.

“Environmental strategies, like the four universal campaigns, are extremely effective, as long as they are consistent, informative, eye catching and the whole community takes them on and makes them a priority,” says Kress. “Informed Families helps to provide the consistency that’s required – and we at Stewart-Marchman-Act Beahvioral Healthcare (SMA) have the capacity and drive to get everyone on the same page in our community.”

Kress serves as the Regional Prevention Director at SMA, which provides behavioral health care services to approximately 25,000 individuals each year, who are living with addiction, mental illness or both in Volusia, Flagler, St. Johns and Putnam Counties. SMA offers residential treatment for substance abuse and mental health in each of those counties. In her role, Kress focuses on the organization’s prevention services to families and schools throughout Volusia and Flagler County.

Parents of high schoolers worry about the parties their kids attend, and rightfully so. Drinking and drug use may occur at unsupervised parties; inebriated teens may get behind the wheel and endanger the lives of themselves, their passengers and innocent drivers; and alcohol poisoning, sexual assault or arrest are stark possibilities when minors drink to excess.

However, the image of a crazy high school party in which parents are on vacation and the whole school shows up for a kegger is a little overblown. Yes, the occasional party does approach out-of-control levels, but the majority of parties are smaller affairs, drawing no more than a few dozen kids, and perhaps even thrown with the blessing of parents who think teens will be safer if they drink in a supervised setting.

Prom creates a wonderful memory for many students at Florida high schools. Teens plan, both individually and at school, to make prom a special night. Yet, drugs and alcohol can sometimes ruin that special night. In the worst-case scenario, the night can become tragic.

According to a AAA survey, 31 percent of high schoolers say they or someone they know plan to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol sometime during prom/graduation season. This statistic is troubling—students go through the effort of creating that special prom memory (not to mention the money their parents spend on gowns, tuxes and so on), then might get impaired enough to not remember the night.

The questions are tough to hear and challenging to answer:

• “Mom, why is marijuana legal in some states and illegal in others?”
• “Dad, what should I do if all my friends are drinking at a party and pressure me to have a beer?”
• “My neck hurts. Can I take one of those Vicodins you were prescribed after your surgery last year?”
• “Mom, Dad, did you drink when you were in high school?”

These are important questions your teens might be asking. And even if they aren’t asking, the topics are still important ones to discuss with your kids. Unfortunately, these hard conversations often scare parents, who worry they might not get their point across, will sound too frantic when their teens are asking about pot or won’t know what to say beyond “just say no.”

The 32nd Annual Informed Families Dinner at Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant will take place on Monday, May 15, 2017. The Joe's dinner will raise funds to support Informed Families' prevention programs and initiatives across Florida, which are designed to help kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free.

On March 16, event co-chairs Pam Gigante-Bunge & Alfred Bunge generously opened up their beautiful Pinecrest home to sponsors, board members and friends of Informed Families to preview plans for the fabulous upcoming 32nd Annual Dinner at Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant, which will be held on May 15th. The Bunges, along with fellow event co-chairs, Linda Neider & Paul Sugrue, gathered with and thanked sponsors and special guests, while sharing exciting details about the much-anticipated event.

The theme of this year’s dinner is “Communities That Care.” Working together as a community is necessary to stop the spread of drug use, especially the devastating current opioid epidemic:

• According to a 2017 article in The New York Times, “Public health officials have called the current opioid epidemic the worst drug crisis in American history, killing more than 33,000 people in 2015.
• Overdose deaths were nearly equal to the number of deaths from car crashes.
• In 2015, for the first time, deaths from heroin alone surpassed gun homicides.

Besides, who can resist sharing a dinner of Joe's Stone Crabs with family and friends - without the wait? The annual Informed Families Dinner at Joe’s is an event with no boring speeches; just good friends and families who want to help kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free!

The Informed Families dinner at Joe’s brings out Miami’s best families. Will you be part of the festivities? For more information, please contact Esther Davila Edavila@Informedfamilies.org or 305-856-4886. View sponsorship information.

About the 2017 Joe's Event Co-Chairs

Pam Giganti-Bunge

Pam Giganti-Bunge is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and veteran news anchor who has worked in the radio and television industry for the last 26 years. She is currently the host of public affairs program, Your South Florida, on South Florida PBS. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of Miami’s School of Communication. For nearly 15 years, she led WTVJ NBC 6’s morning team as anchor of South Florida Today. Giganti-Bunge has covered presidents and leaders, soldiers in wartime, and devoted countless hours to breaking news including hurricanes. In 2009, she won an Emmy for her health special, “Breast Cancer: Interactive.” She has been recognized with an NBC Certificate of Excellence and an Ovation Award for Outstanding Teamwork. Giganti-Bunge has supported several charitable organizations in addition to Informed Families. She is a former board member of the Suncoast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and has mentored at-risk high school girls through Women of Tomorrow. Pam and her husband Alfred Bunge are the proud parents of three daughters.

Alfred Bunge

Alfred Bunge is a Managing Director and Banker at the J.P. Morgan Private Bank. He leads an integrated team of specialists that advises ultra-high net worth clients throughout South Florida and Puerto Rico; delivering an array of customized financial planning, investment management and fiduciary services, among others. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Bunge was a Principal at Bernstein Global Wealth Management where he led and mentored a team of financial advisors and associates to deliver financial strategies to high net worth clients and their professional advisors in South Florida and Latin America. Before entering the financial services industry, Bunge served as regional manager for the Latin America Management Team of Fortune 100 company, Johnson Controls, Inc. A commissioned officer of the U.S. Navy, Bunge graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a BS in Economics and Political Science, and serves as Vice President of the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association – Miami Chapter. He earned an MBA from the University of Miami where he has remained active and is Past-President of the Citizens Board and former Member of the UM Board of Trustees. Bunge is a member of the Orange Bowl Committee and Advisory Board member of Mission United, the United Way of Miami’s veteran support organization.

Dr. Linda Neider

Dr. Linda Neider serves many roles at the University of Miami, where she has won dozens of awards teaching undergraduate, MBA and executive classes in leadership, organizational behavior and human capital (resource) management. She is Director of the Master of Science program in Management, Leadership specialization and Professor in the Department of Management and the Department of Health Sector Management and Policy plus the Program Coordinator, Human Capital Curriculum, Global MBA Program for the Americas. Neider is also former Vice Dean at UM for Internal University Relations, Global/Cross- Disciplinary Initiatives and Undergraduate Programs. She co-edits the book series, Research in Management, which recently published Ethical Leadership (volume 10) and Transforming Organizations (volume 11). In addition to her commitment to UM, Neider serves on the Board of Directors for the Humane Society of Greater Miami, the Board of Governors for the Young Patronesses of the Opera and the Board of the Cotillion Club of Greater Miami. Neider has an M.A., an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Dr. Paul Sugrue

Dr. Paul Sugrue is a proud veteran and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He is the former Dean of the School of Business at the University of Miami and Professor of Management Science. As Dean from 1992-2007, Sugrue doubled the square footage of the School of Business by raising money to fully fund the construction of seven major capital projects: DelaCruz Study Center, Ziff Graduate Placement Center, Storer Auditorium, McLamore Executive Education Center, Aresty Graduate School Building, Kosar/Epstein Faculty Office Building and the Newman Information Resource Center. During his tenure as Dean, Sugrue significantly improved the School of Business with the M.B.A. program ranking as 14th among regional business schools by The Wall Street Journal and 58th nationally by US News and World Report; undergraduate SAT scores increased by 210 points, twice the increase for the rest of the university; and freshmen retention rose from 78% in 1992 to 92% in 2007. Sugrue currently teaches Statistics and publishes in the area of financial aid allocation models. Besides his B.S. from the Naval Academy, Sugrue earned an M.B.A. from the University of Rhode Island and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Married to Linda Neider, their one daughter has completed her B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is currently pursuing her Ph.D.