WHAT ABOUT THE KIDS?
WORDS: Lela Rast Hartsaw
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
Throw a rock into a pond and the water’s reaction is a series
of ripples, higher and more dened at the point of impact,
but far-reaching in a wide circle around the spot where the
disturbance occurs.
This is true of rocks and water as well as any action/reaction. So,
taking this ripple effect and using it in a discussion about the
current opioid crisis, one can see that surrounding the drug’s user
is a circle of people affected by the choices made. Closer to the
user is his or her family. Then further out, the rings are comprised
of the user’s friends, neighbors, co-workers, and the community
at large - all are impacted by the choices this person made.
Peering more closely at that rst ripple, we see that family means
not only the parents and siblings of the drug user, but also the
user’s children. And it’s this part of the ripple effect that spawned
a discussion, aptly named, WHAT ABOUT THE KIDS?
The opioid epidemic is national news. Manatee County has seen
the numbers decline in the last six months since making headlines
for record-breaking cases of opioid deaths. However, we are
now seeing a frightening shift in another, unexpected area: our
schools and day care centers.
One day, not long ago, a child was brought to a childcare center
and the employees were told that the child was just “super
sleepy.” The staff at the center, as the morning progressed,
noted there seemed to be more going on with this child than just
sleepiness. The child’s emergency contact was notied and took
the child to the doctor where it was determined that this child
had ingested an opioid substance.
Teachers and care givers need to be trained to know what
behaviors to look for and how to react to these types of situations.
Plus, there is a need in our community (and all communities
where opioid deaths have left orphaned children) for foster care,
legal assistance, and long-term counseling for these children
and their families.
The best way to find solutions to problems is to start
conversations. At the end of January, a panel of experts
were brought together at Manatee Technical College to start
just such a conversation. Here are the panelists - and the
highlights - from that rst of hopefully many WHAT ABOUT
THE KIDS? discussions.
The panelists were: Dr. Alfred Aleguas, Director of the Florida
Poison Control Center; Nathan Scott, from the Family Safety
Alliance; Captain Todd Shear, Manatee County Sheriff’s
Ofce; and Kristie Skoglund, from the Florida Center of Early
Childhood.
56