Thames Valley programs set to target students at risk for addiction

The Thames Valley District school board is launching in a dozen schools a program targeting students at risk for addiction, its mental health officials say.

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The PreVenture program for youths 12 to 18 teaches students coping skills, how to set goals and how to learn about their personalities. It will be piloted in six elementary and six high schools, student mental health manager Kathryn Lambert told trustees in a recent presentation.

“Between September and December, we trained our staff, so we’re ready,” she said.

The programs will run from February to June, she said.

Financially supported by Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario, the Quebec-based PreVenture program offers three group sessions “that helps students understand their personality traits,” Lambert said.

“Some kids may be more impulsive or adventurous,” Lambert said. “We group kids based on similar personality traits. They learn about how their brain works and develop healthier strategies in relation to coping with emotions or life adversities.

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“It’s really an evidence-based program that prevents addictive behaviors from being developed in the future.”

The program was developed “in response to evidence showing how personality factors can be highly predictive of who goes on to develop problems with alcohol and substance misuse,” according to PreVenture’s website.

“Multiple randomized controlled trials showed PreVenture to have a strong effect on delaying alcohol and substance use among adolescents,” it read.

Another program being introduced, entitled Quash, is an eight-week “small-group intervention to support vaping and smoking cessation for students,” Lambert said.

According to the Lung Health Foundation, vaping rates among Grades 9 to 12 students increased by 238 per cent from 2014 to 2018 in Ontario. Most adults who smoke regularly started using tobacco before age 18, the group found.

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The announcement of the pilot project and smoking cessation program was part of an update to trustees on the board’s mental health and addictions action plan.

In 2023, the education ministry mandated boards to prioritize addressing mental health and addiction-related needs of students, families, and staff, Lambert said. The directive included developing a three-year mental health and addiction strategic plan and a one-year action plan, she said.

Dennis Wright, superintendent of student achievement, said he believed COVID-19 took a toll on students’ mental health.

“The demand for school-based services has increased,” he said.

Research and school experiments show that students in transitional grades – such as Grade 8 – were disproportionately affected by the pandemic, he said.

The board has targeted students in those grades for “intentional efforts,” he said.

Since 2007, the number of students who rate their mental health from poor to fair rose to 38 per cent from 11 per cent, Wright said. Ten per cent of high schoolers report being prescribed medication for anxiety, depression. or both, he said.

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@HeatheratLFP

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