SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION: PROACTIVE TRAINING -- A PROPOSAL

 

SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION:  PROACTIVE TRAINING

HOW TO SAY NO TO WHAT I CALL THE “DREAM-KILLERS”

 

Kathy Hogan, Quincy, Mass.

kathydulleahogan@aol.com

PROPOSAL:    

Teach kids how they can say no to drink and/or drugs with conviction and confidence.  Because drink and drugs can be dream-killers.

ANALOGIES:  

DRIVING         We learn to drive by taking lessons to drive safely, studying rules of the road, and taking a driving test before being issued a license to drive a potentially dangerous vehicle.  However, drink and drugs are dangerous, yet young people are not normally given the same kind of preparation. 

PLAYING TEAM SPORTS            Sports teams consist of offense and defense.  Defensive players are trained to play defense.  However, we do not train kids to play defense when it comes to dealing with this offense:    an offense in which drink and/or drugs are offered.

RATIONALE:    In childhood, kids do things that make them happy, that excite them, or that they simply enjoy – yet drink or drugs are not part of this.  Later on, when young people are invited to try drink or drugs, they’re often persuaded it will make them feel good.   Remind kids they already know how to find pleasure in life in a natural way.   Let’s train them so they have something to draw upon – experience saying ‘no’ and a response in which they have conviction – when faced with persuasion.  Other reasons to say no can be explored – such as the undesirable prospect of being kicked off their sports team!  

NOTE:    How well this will work with children who’ve been abused, with mental health problems, or with parents who have substance abuse problems themselves is not clear.     By itself this might not be a cure-all, but I think it is worth trying,  if for no other reason than to keep the good times in the forefront of their minds.  At its best, it could be the saving grace.

In addition, curiosity plays a big role. 

How to deal with it?  I don’t have the answer.  Do you?

 

PROCEDURE STAGES

First:                Brainstorm things that as a child you enjoy, excite you, make you happy, or just bring you contentment.

Second:           Brainstorm things someone may say to you to get you to try a drink or drug.

Third:  Keep in mind you’ve had experiences that bring you pleasure, and brainstorm responses you can use to say no.  Explore various reasons.  Be aware that bullying reactions can follow as well as peer pressure; need to prepare the children for this, too.

Fourth:            Role play in pairs, the first person acting as the person offering something, the second person as the one being offered something.  Then take turns and reverse roles.

Fifth:                Members of the whole group share with each other.

TO FOLLOW:  Develop Lesson Plans/Training Plans for each stage.

COCOANUT GROVE FIRE, Boston, November 28, 1942

I'm using Gateway to Science: Sports and Games to post this as it's the only blog I have and wanted to make this available to anyone interested.

Stephanie Schorow wrote The Cocoanut Grove Fire in 2005 and will be publishing a revision this October 2022, just before the 80th anniversary of the fire.  

Following this you will see a primary source -- my dad’s diary entries about the BC-Holy Cross football game and later on the nightclub fire and the aftermath.  

Dad was Ned Dullea, BC 1923; he played football and worked on The Heights. He taught history in Boston for over 40 years. My uncle was Fr. Maurice Dullea, S.J., BC 1917, and faculty moderator of athletics at BC between 1940 and 1957.  He was also BC’s football captain in 1916 and led BC to its first victory over Holy Cross in about 15 years.  After he became a Jesuit priest, he was assigned to Holy Cross in 1930 where he established and directed the intramural program, and his first achievement was to create a soccer field.  He left there for BC in 1940.

You can read the details that Dad wrote, including the pleasant day that began that Saturday, the anticipation that BC would win, as it was rated #1 by the AP, the shocking 55-12 loss, and being present in Fenway Park’s office where the Sugar Bowl Committee called Father Dullea to withdraw the invitation to play on January 1.  When Dad woke up on Sunday, Father Maurice was calling to tell him that he had been up all night helping victims of the Cocoanut Grove fire, because BC’s Jesuit community had been called to come and help, to comfort the injured and dying.

I recently checked the program that Dad had held onto, and the BC co-captains are on the cover – Fred Naumetz wearing 55 and Mike Holovak wearing 12!  Prophetic?!

The 80th anniversary is approaching, and please feel free to use this if you want to share it with others. Ms. Schorow gives talks on her books and I’m sure would be happy to hear from organizations.  That, in fact, is how I met her a few years ago at the Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy, when I brought Dad’s diary with me to her talk and read it to everyone who was there. 

Here is Dad's diary:

COCOANUT GROVE FIRE

Diary of Edward C. Dullea, Boston College Class of 1923

 

Saturday, November 28, 1942:

Day of Holy Cross-B.C. game.  Rain has stopped, much colder.  Rose’s mother came over to care for little Maurice [19 months old].  Rose and I had lunch at Kelsey’s Lunchroom in Kenmore Square.  We sat with Everett Conway at the game at Fenway Park.

Nothing in life is sure.  B.C., number one team of the nation by the Associated Press national poll, four to one favorites for to-day’s game, suffered the worst defeat of B.C. athletic history, being crushed by Holy Cross by an unbelievable 55 to 12 score.  Holy Cross backs Grigas, Ball, Bezemes, Sullivan ran wild. Their forwards clicked.  Everything B.C. did went awry, as in a nightmare.  Holy Cross fans, luckless for four years, cheered and thundered without ceasing.

Jimmy Guaragna drove Rose home, while I waited for Maurice  [B.C. 1917]  in the Red Sox offices.  The Sugar Bowl Committee called from New Orleans to withdraw the invitation extended to B.C. to play in the Bowl game of January 1.

Maurice and I had supper at my mother’s.  On the way out to B.C., we called at Mrs. Moore’s to see Freddie Naumetz [one of BC’s football players].  Freddie was out, and more of this later.

 

Sunday, November 29, 1942:

The newspapers shrieked the horrible news that 448 people died in the flames and smoke of the Cocoanut Grove on Piedmont Street last night at 10 P.M.

Maurice called from B.C. at 9 A.M., telling me that he had been in the city all night helping to minister to the dead and dying, and searching for Fred Naumetz, after a police sergeant had identified one of the dead as Freddie.  Later I drove out to B.C., talked with Gil Bouley, Mike Holovak, and Rocco Canale, but still no news on Fred.  Stopping to see my mother and [sister] Katherine, I arrived back at Ocean Street about 1 P.M.  Here Mrs. Frank Jones (the trainer’s wife) called me to tell me that Larry Kenney and his wife had died in the holocaust.

Everett Conway came over to the house in the afternoon.  All day long the radio broadcast the long list of dead, dying, and injured, the lists mounting every minute, as identifications were made in morgues, hospitals, and undertaking establishments. 

There was one bit of good news.  Fred Naumetz was found.  He had stayed overnight at a friend’s house, his fiancé, Miss Jacobs. 

 

Monday, November 30, 1942:

The newspapers were filled with the horrors of the Cocoanut Grove tragedy.  Joseph Boratyn, Holy Cross football star of 1941, perished.  John Gill, B.C. Alumni Secretary, and his wife escaped and are in a hospital.  Charles “Buck” Jones, famous movie actor, Wild West pictures, is dying.  A policeman, Robert Pierce, and his wife, of our street, died, leaving three children.

It was announced to-day that B.C. will play the University of Alabama in the Orange Bowl game at Miami, Florida, on New Year’s Day.  So B.C. will play in a bowl after all.

 

End of November entry:

November ends in deep gloom.  The Cocoanut Grove fire was one of the worst disasters in American history.  On only three occasions have fires and explosions taken a greater toll of life.

In retrospect, the unmerciful beating that Holy Cross gave B.C. was the most wonderful thing that could have happened.  If B.C. had won, or even tied, they would have been undisputed national champions.  The entire squad, with coaches and officials, were to have attended a victory dinner at the Cocoanut Grove.  Rocco Canale was scheduled to sing a baritone solo.  With them would have been girlfriends, sisters, mothers, wives of coaches and officials, etc.

The stunning defeat led the team to call off the whole affair.  The boys went home to bed to try and forget the debacle.  None of the B.C. party went, except unfortunate Larry Kenney and his little group.  Surely this was Providential.

 

Tuesday, December 1, 1942:

After school I called for Katherine at the Bailey Street School.  While there, Jim Manning, custodian, painted my headlights to conform with the new dim-out regulations.  I drove Katherine to my mother’s house.   On the way home, I went to the wake of Larry Kenney and his wife on Dracut Street, near Peabody Square [Dorchester].

When I arrived home about 5:30, Rose told me that my brother Maurice and Coach Denny Myers had visited us after attending Larry’s wake.  They had quite a time playing with our little Maurice.

 

Sunday, December 27, 1942:

I attended 9 o’clock Mass at St. Mark’s, Rose the 10:15 Mass.  I then took Maurice in town to see my cousin Hannah Hurley, who is the cook for Doctor A. Lawrence Lowell, President-Emeritus of Harvard University, residence at 171 Marlboro Street.  Miss Mary Brown, another employee, greeted us at the door.  Maurice had a fine time for himself in the Lowell home, running around the kitchen and pantries, eating ginger cookies, etc.  Hannah presented him with a box of Schrafft’s chocolates.

On the way to see Hannah, I drove by the scene of the disastrous Cocoanut Grove fire at Broadway and Church Street, where more than 500 lost their lives 4 weeks ago.

 Transcribed by Kathy Dullea Hogan

INERTIA

A simple illustration of inertia -- first law of motion -- 

AN OBJECT IN MOTION HAS A TENDENCY TO STAY IN MOTION, 

AND AN OBJECT AT REST HAS A TENDENCY TO STAY AT REST.

 http://stickmanphysics.com/stickman-physics-home/forces/newtons-first-law-of-motion-inertia/

LESSON PLAN / FINDING SCIENCE IN STORIES. Deputy Dan and the Bank Robbers

 

LESSON PLAN / FINDING SCIENCE IN STORIES

STORY:            Deputy Dan and the Bank Robbers by Joseph Rosenbloom,

Random House, New York, 1985

SUMMARY:     Deputy Dan listens to the orders of Sheriff Digbee who likes to use popular expressions (figures of speech), which Dan follows literally rather than by the figurative meaning.  This leads to some funny situations, which frustrate his boss.  Despite this, will Deputy Dan end up being successful in capturing some bank robbers?

LEAD-IN:         Ask:    If I tell you to answer the door, would you go and talk to the door?  Deputy Dan does.  Let’s read and find out why.                    

READ STORY:  Invite participation, such as having a student reading “No, no!” or Deputy Dan hopping to it, as his boss orders.  Various scenes can be acted out.

PREDICTION:  As the story proceeds, what do you predict will happen when Sheriff Digbee gives a new order to Deputy Dan?   Keep in mind his common expressions such as hop over, step on it, keep an eye on something, check it out, keep it covered, etc.  And keep in mind that Dan takes these instructions word for word (not as intended in the figurative sense). 

EVALUATION:

Comprehension:

·       Re Prediction in story:  Does the child begin to anticipate Dan’s actions? 

·       Did Dan use common sense to figure out who the robbers were?                       

 (no – dirty crooks / and yes – Scrambled Eggs Gang)   Did luck play a role?

·       For discussion:   Dan follows orders blindly -- without questioning if they make sense.  Does this waste time?  What can both Dan and Sheriff Digbee learn from this to prevent future confusion?

Other:

·       Art.  Draw a picture of your favorite scene.

 Participate in the story, as suggested above.

 Does the child ask questions or make comments?

TRANSITION:  As the story comes to an end, remind them of the jumping that takes place in the story by frustrated Sheriff Digbee.  Jumping takes a lot of energy, because where you want to go up, gravity pulls us down.  You can remain indoors or go outdoors for these activities.

 

BRINGING IN SCIENCE:

·       In the video we do jumping jacks, cartwheels,  jump rope, long jump:                                

      Other games you can do:   hopscotch / jump up stairs / leapfrog, too.

·       Jumping takes a lot of energy – where you want to go up, gravity pulls us down.

·       Activities like jumping use a lot of oxygen.  Remember to deep breathe.

·       You will hear Bella point out   (in the video)   that it’s harder to jumprope on grass than on a smooth surface.  This is due to more friction when the rope passes over the grass.

·       Potential Energy (PE) and Kinetic Energy (KE) in Cartwheels or Long jump: 

As someone is in position to jump, you can easily notice that the person is in the right position and place to use their energy –  Potential energy. 

As the person moves through the jump, this energy changes to the energy of motion –       Kinetic energy.

·       The long jump is a great way to bring in math.  Measure the distances each child jumps, seeing if they do more than or less than before.  Using a yardstick or tape measure, keep a record and calculate how they did.  See if there is any difference between a standing start and a running start.

A NEW APPROACH TO PREVENTING SUBSTANCE ABUSE

 

SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION:  PROACTIVE TRAINING

HOW TO SAY NO TO WHAT I CALL THE “DREAM-KILLERS”

 

Kathy Hogan, Quincy, Mass.

kathydulleahogan@aol.com

 

PROPOSAL:     Teach kids how they can say no to drink and/or drugs with conviction and confidence.  Drink and drugs can be dream-killers.

ANALOGIES:  

DRIVING           We learn to drive by taking lessons to drive safely, studying rules of the road, and taking a driving test before being issued a license to drive a potentially dangerous vehicle.  However, drink and drugs are dangerous, yet young people are not given the same kind of preparation. 

PLAYING TEAM SPORTS        Sports teams consist of offense and defense.  Defensive players are trained to play defense.  However, we do not train kids to play defense when it comes to dealing with this offense:  an offense in which drink and/or drugs are offered.

RATIONALE: In childhood kids do things that excite them, that make them happy, or that they simply enjoy – yet drink or drugs are not part of this.  Later on, when young people are invited to try drink or drugs, they’re often persuaded it will make them feel good.   Remind kids they already know how to find pleasure in life in a natural way.   Train them so they have something to draw upon – experience saying ‘no’ and a response in which they have conviction – when faced with persuasion.  Other reasons to say no can be explored such as the undesirable prospect of being kicked off their sports team.  

NOTE:    How well this will work with children from abusive families, with mental health problems, or with parents who have substance abuse problems themselves is not clear.     By itself this might not be a cure-all, but it is worth trying,  if for no other reason than to keep the good times in the forefront of their minds.  At its best, it could be the saving grace.

PROCEDURE STAGES:

First:                   Brainstorm things that as a child you enjoy, excite you, make you happy, or just bring you contentment.

Second:             Brainstorm things someone may say to you to get you to try a drink or drug.

Third:                 Keep in mind that you have had experiences that bring you pleasure, and brainstorm responses you can use to say no.  Explore various reasons.  Be aware that bullying reactions can follow as well as peer pressure; prepare the children for this, too.

Fourth:              Role play in pairs, the first person acting as the person offering something, the second person as the one being offered something.  Then take turns and reverse roles.

Fifth:                   Members of the whole group share with each other.

TO FOLLOW:                                Lesson Plans/Training Plans for each stage

                                PROPOSAL FOR RE-USE OF 

                    QUINCY’S EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER:

A THEME SCHOOL BASED ON 

GATEWAY TO SCIENCE: SPORTS AND GAMES

 

Kathy Dullea Hogan

http://sportscience-kathy.blogspot.com

 

 

MY MESSAGE TO YOU, READER:

The plan proposed below is certainly something I want to see happen.  However, equally important is to introduce this revolutionary idea to people, to you, to get conversations going, and to spur people to investigate and implement this approach on their own and with others.

BACKGROUND:

Almost 25 years have passed since I began raising funds for the Father Maurice Dullea, S.J., Athletic Scholarship at Boston College in 1996.  This is when I began to think about the connection between physics and sports.  Since kids already like to play games and sports, it would be easy to incorporate physics (and geometry) into what they already know instinctively and physically. What is the link?  The link is learning the name of the force involved!  Language is the connection between the activity and the brain’s understanding of the principle.  Arrange for kids to acquire basic physics this way, and they’ll start learning more on their own.  Painlessly while having fun – and gaining confidence.

A retired teacher, I collect games, books, articles, and much more that promote this approach.  Some I’ve used at the South Shore Science Festival since 2015 (at 180 Old Colony Avenue when the Quincy Center for Innovation was there).  For example, string-can telephones are always a big hit while learning about vibration.  I’ve also done volunteer work at QCAP, Kenny School in Dorchester, and Science Week at Saint Agatha School in Milton and incorporated this theme, often done through finding science in stories.  It’s time to put it all into practice – a theme school.

Eileen Leister, hula hooper extraordinaire (pink sweater), plus a science festival attendee who demonstrates her talents producing torque -- the turning force -- with many hula hoops all at once.  2016 South Shore Science Festival.                Kathy Hogan photo

 

PROPOSAL:

Implementing this is the next step.  Since reading that Quincy is to make changes vis a vis the Amelio Della Chiesa Early Childhood Center, this is what I would like to suggest. Integrate this theme school into one of the two options for the ECC – create a city-wide kindergarten center or relieve space shortage in elementary schools.  Which one?

Kindergarten works as it’s a good age to start, and it would be city-wide.

Elementary works, too, because, ranging from kindergarten to grade 5,   curriculum would get a chance to be developed further as kids get older.

 

DETAILS:

I envision one room to be set aside as the “Gateway to Science,” which would be something like a library or a special type of gym. 

It would have stations around the room with space in the middle for activities.  The stations will have different science themes, with a card on how to carry out each activity.  

For example,

Center of gravity/mass:  Various games and challenges (see illustration below). 

Torque:  Hula hoops, jump ropes.

Measuring: Yard/meter stick, food scale, measuring cups, Newton apples, etc. 

Light and color:  Prism, CD (for light refraction in the grooves), glitter; paints, chalk. 

Sound and music:  String-can telephones, musical instruments. 

Other themes and other equipment:  Energy.  Gravity.  Collision. Inertia. Friction. Magnetism.  Potential and kinetic energy.  Golf equipment, soccer ball, football, magnets, Slinky.

Books:  General reference books, children’s stories, leaflets that I’ve written, videos.

 

      Physics LAB               http://dev.physicslab.org

 Teach tricks to your friends that find the center of mass (not always where you think it is).

 

The next step is to write the curriculum.*  Many subjects lend themselves to a cross-curriculum approach, e.g., reading, with activities to reinforce the science found in the story.  Music class can be enhanced by a greater appreciation of vibrations. Public speaking can be eased into by a student showing and explaining the above trick he’s learned.  Gateway to Science is the teacher’s friend!

Outside what is now the ECC, the playground can be adapted with names for the rides.  For example, the slide could be called “Gravity Glide.”  The xylophones might be called “Very Good Vibrations.”  Additional information can be put on signs, such as explaining friction on the slide (quality of the ride depends on whether you’re wearing long pants or shorts, whether you or the slide is wet or dry, etc.).

 

Recommend:  Collaborate with a college with an education and science major to strengthen this approach.  Do a research project and write it up for a professional journal (preferably from the National Science Teaching Association).   This school would be good for teachers in training to do observations and student teaching.

*To be developed next.

Finding science in stories is one of the strategies used in Gateway to Science, followed up with an activity to reinforce the science.  Here The Rainbow Fish was read at the 2017 South Shore Science Festival by volunteers Denise Duncan and JoJo Foley.  Bruno Barroso and Nandan Nair approved! Other times,  Deputy Dan and the Bank Robbers offered lots of jumping activities, and Curious George at the Aquarium offered throwing activities to learn about energy v. gravity.        Kathy Hogan photo

 

WHAT NEXT?  MY GOAL:

This school can become a model, not only for other such schools but for camps and after-school programs. This approach can reach kids who may not have a good opinion of themselves academically, yet through their games and sports they really do get the physics and just need to be shown how much they do know.  Our precious planet needs dedicated scientists who can help restore a healthier Earth.  My ultimate goal is to develop:

C.A.M.P.S. (Center for the Advancement of Math and Physics through Sports)

C.A.M.P.S. will offer camps, of course, that offer physics in games and sports; professional development for teachers, coaches and parents; after-school programs, and more.  C.A.M.P.S. will be a resource for training education majors to use this approach.  C.A.M.P.S., too, will be a model for other such programs.

There is nothing like this anywhere, and it is needed, but I can’t do it on my own. Quincy can be the leader.  What will you do to help make this happen?

 

Volunteer Bonnie Gorman introduces curious visitors to the unusual Galileo thermometer in a tall glass cylinder before turning their attention to the colorful Slinky and the physics lessons it holds.  2018 South Shore Science Festival.                Kathy Hogan photo

 

Kathy Dullea Hogan was happy to discover her vocation to be teaching when she was 39, and so she went back to college in 1984 to get her degree in elementary and special education at Bridgewater State College.   Kathy is the niece of Father Dullea (1896-1984), the inspiration for Gateway to Science: Sports and Games.  She can be reached at kathydulleahogan@aol.com