In an effort to educate the community, Kutztown Strong and Kutztown School District hosted Brain Drain, an informational program about the effects of concussions and drug abuse on the brain.
Held Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Kutztown Middle School Commons, the program featured presentations by Dr. Sanghoon Kim, Director of Brain Injury Rehabilitation at the Reading Health Rehabilitation Center, and Dr. Mary Fabian, Family Practitioner at the Emmaus Avenue Family Practice.
In addition, Berks County Detectives set up a bedroom scene to show parents where their teenagers might hide drugs and paraphernalia, as well as a table to show them what these objects may look like.
The Council On Chemical Abuse, Caron Foundation, CONCERN, and Kutztown Strong had tables set up with informational pamphlets.
A Kutztown School District nurse, Brenda Loeb, opened the first part of presentation dealing with concussions.
“In the past two years, we have had a total of 90 concussions in the school district,” said Loeb. “Academically, this has been a challenge for the district. After doing some research, I found that half of these concussions happened outside of PIAA sports.”
Loeb shared that by working with the administration and school board, the district was able to adopt a new policy to cover all students suffering from the effects of concussions, and the district has seen greater recovery time.
“Concussion: Hurt or Injured?”Following Loeb’s introduction, Dr. Kim shared information with the audience about causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of concussions.
“In a concussion, the symptoms are physical, cognitive and emotional,” explained Dr. Kim. “In the general public, some people don’t realize there can be emotional symptoms including anxiety, depression, irritability, apathy…”
Dr. Kim also shared that the older a patient is the shorter the recovery time tends to be.
“Most people recover in a very reasonable time,” he said. “Whether it’s a sports related concussion or not, the key is rest.”
Dr. Kim explained that new requirements have been adopted to prevent and treat concussions more effectively.
“The trend is to do a computerized, cognitive testing before a season to find the base line,” he said. “If concussions aren’t treated properly, they can have devastating consequences.”
Following Dr. Kim’s presentation, the audience was given the chance to ask questions, and the presentation moved into its second half on the effects of drug abuse.
Drug and Alcohol Addiction”The issue of drug and alcohol addiction is not going away,” said Loeb. “I’m saddened to share with you that yesterday we received information that former student overdosed and died. My heartfelt sorrow goes out to the family and friends of that student.”
Loeb urged the audience to get involved.
“We all need to work together to help students from the life-destructive paths they may be on,” she said. “No one has immunity to addiction.”
“Brain Drain: Recipe for Disaster”
Loeb introduced Dr. Mary Fabian, a family practitioner and concerned parent, to share on the teenage brain and drug abuse.
“I have a strong passion about drug and alcohol use, not just as a parent, but as a physician,” Dr. Fabian said.
Dr. Fabian shared that in teenagers up to 20 years old, the Pre-Frontal Cortex of the brain is not fully developed, leaving these individuals more susceptible to repeated drug use and addiction.
“Society is very anxiety provoking for teenagers,” said Dr. Fabian. “As a medical professional, I admit that we are at fault for prescribing addictive medications. The most important thing we can do is prevention. We need to model the behavior.”
Dr. Fabian closed, offering methods for drug use prevention.
“If there are family issues, get counseling,” she said. “Know what’s going on, be involved in the community and look for alternative activities. We can find resources that will work for young people.”
Closing RemarksFollowing Dr. Fabian’s presentation, Loeb wrapped up the event with some thought-provoking comments for the audience.
“Each and every child is worth saving,” said Loeb. “We are working hard in the district and community to save our children, but we have a lot of work to do because these children are still dying.”
Loeb assured the audience that the Kutztown School District and community are not giving up.
“Kutztown Strong is taking stock in the resources available to help treat and prevent drug addiction,” she said. “I would like to say thanks to those who took the time to attend this meeting and show that you really care about the kids.”
Andrew Brett, a member of Kutztown Strong and a counselor for the district, was pleased with the night’s event.
“Everything went great,” he said. “It’s nice to see the community come out and want to learn more about not just concussions, but the drug use as well. It plays such an impact on the high school.”
Brett acts as liaison between the students and the community, helping to plan alternative activities for the students.
“We want to provide activities that the students want to do, not that the parents think they want to do,” he said.
Kutztown Strong hosts a game of Capture the Flag for students at the Kutztown Park Nov. 15 at 4 p.m.
For more information on Kutztown Strong and other preventative activities and events, visit www.kutztownstrong.com.
