Revelstoke youth learn the downfall of addiction in relationships

Students at Revelstoke Secondary School will receive education on addictions and relationships as part of National Addictions Awareness Week, Nov. 12–18.

Youth today face a tantalizing array of stimulants, which, if not understood, can easily knock them off their path to a healthy and happy future.

National Addictions Awareness Week

This week is National Addictions Awareness Week and Revelstoke youth liaison officer Leslie Hogg is focusing on a variety of things that can give Revelstoke Secondary School youth that instant high.

“This year I am trying to bring awareness to all addictions, not just drugs and alcohol,” she said. “In today’s society we are addicted to coffee, cell phones, social media, sugar and more.”

The Revelstoke Women’s Shelter Society will educate students on addictions and relationships and their contribution is among a number of events that the school is holding throughout the week.

The shelter helps women to escape abusive relationships. Abuse often goes hand in hand with addiction to drugs and alcohol. The shelter has a zero tolerance policy, but also provides women with support and referrals to local services that will help them overcome addiction.

It’s not an easy path and prevention is a core focus. It’s why shelter staff educate school students at lunchtime, once a week, throughout the school year.

“If students can get an idea of the impacts of these choices, then it might save them a lot of heartache down the line,” the shelter’s team leader Lynn Loeppky said.

Often, addiction is cyclical. May women the shelter works with have experienced the impacts of drug and alcohol addiction in their youth through their peers or family. This often repeats itself in their adult life and in their intimate relationships.