SWAMPSCOTT — Opioid Settlement Funds Program Contractor Michelle Simons is eager to announce an exciting event for residents.
The town’s Health Department will be holding a focus group for anybody who filled out the Positive Norms Community Perceptions Survey. The event kicks off on May 21 from 5:45 to 7 p.m. at the Swampscott Senior Center located at 200R Essex St., behind the high school.
The survey was developed in order to collect input from adults about beliefs and perceptions about youth substance use and factors that may contribute to use, including perceived risk factors for youth, adult perceptions on the rate of substance abuse among youth, and their perceptions of risk and community needs.
According to Simons, the upcoming focus group is not exclusive to those who filled out the survey. Instead, it’s open to any community member who might share their interest in the experience.
“If anybody wants to be involved in it, even though they didn’t fill out the survey initially, they can reach out to Wendy Kent at [email protected], or myself at [email protected], and request to be in the focus group,” Simons said.
Simons explained the survey and its purpose to gauge insight about how residents feel about the risk of increasing substance abuse among youth.
“The survey was about perceptions about youth substance-use, we’re getting data from folks. And why it’s called what it is, is because people think things are worse than they are… We’re able to create messaging that says, ‘Hey, it’s not as bad as it looks.’ And most people think 75 or 80% of youth are experimenting with substances, when the truth is that 70% are not using any substances,” Simons said.
Rather than fostering an alarmist attitude toward the problem, Simons had something different in mind. “60 to 70% are not using substances, and when we send out messages like that, we help strengthen the community,” she said.
She continued, “We pull from the strength of the community, the strength of the youth that aren’t using, and find out what they’re doing to not experiment, how they build refusal skills, so we can build up a perception that says, ‘It’s not normal that this happens,’ because when adults have that perception, it opens a doorway for kids to feel that nobody really cares what we do.’”
Simons said the focus group will be a different approach to help prevent substance abuse from kids in middle and high school.
