Wednesday, February 22, 2012

You Ask For It, You Gottem

It's taken me a while but I finally did it.

Many of you ask if I would video my talks to students so you could see what I was doing. Finally last week I was able to set a video camera up in the back of the room and video my ugly mug doing my thing. The quality is not HD but it is easy to hear and get an idea of the presentation. Darlene has already told me I need to add stuff on K2 and Bath Salts. She also said I need to do something with my hands. (I don't know what.) If you have any comments or critique I'd LOVE to hear from you.

I have posted Youtube links to the presentation. I tried uploading one big movie but it is 1 hour long and Youtube rejected it because of the length. With my limited tech skills even with iMovie on my Mac that task of breaking it into pieces was beyond my patience and technical ability. I'm sure glad the computer technical guru reports to me at work. ;-) (When I worked for a living in the shop it was called "government work.")

The movie was broken up into 10 minute sections. On the Youtube description I tried to give a short descriptor for each section. Maybe it was the camera but the students didn't comment during the talk but after it was over and the camera was off some very good learning took place by all.

Classroom Presentation, part 1 - Intro / Addiction is a Disease
Classroom Presentation, part 2 - Drug Discussion
Classroom Presentation, part 3 - Drug Discussion
Classroom Presentation, part 4 - Symptoms, Behaviors, Prevention
Classroom Presentation, part 5 - Prevention, Getting Help
Classroom Presentation, part 6 - 7 Truths, Overdose
Classroom Presentation, part 7 - Overdosed, An Addict In Our Son's Bedroom

OH, oh, ps.: BTW, no animals were harmed or injured in any way during the making of this movie.  :-)

10 comments:

Her Big Sad said...

I'm working my way through them in between batches of work. Bless you Ron. You are doing such a good and valuable thing here. ((Hug))

Debby of Oxycontin and Opiate Addiction: A Mother's Story said...

So nice to meet you, Ron...to hear your voice, to see you move. I admire how you have taken a very painful chapter in your family's life and are so openly sharing it. You are paying it forward. God bless you for the dedication you have. It will take me a while to watch the whole thing, but I will. So far, so good!

Anonymous said...

I watched them all and was totally floored by how well and sincerely you speak to kids. You and your family have been through so much and I am very happy for you and Alex and that he is finding joy in the everyday things and that he is trying very hard to be a great daddy. After telling a good friend about the videos, she asked if I could forward the YouTube links on to her to show her 9th grade son. I will definitely be doing that for her. The presentation was absolutely EXCELLENT. I could not stop watching until the end. My son has been dealing with addiction since high school (starting with alcohol and "weed", of course, progressing on to a variety of other harder drugs, including prescription medications, just as you spoke about to the kids) and is now 22 1/2. He states he is clean at this moment(he no longer lives with us) and goes to AA meetings, but it is a slow road to recovery. I wish someone spoke to him the way you speak to these students. They were engaged and not bored. You throw in humor, too, amongst the seriousness of it all. I would bet that everyone sitting in that class took away something valuable from your talk. I know I did. Thank you very much for recording this and for taking the time to get it onto YouTube for all to see. You are a phenomenal speaker!
~ AJB1126

Jenna from Anxiety Helpers said...

Thank you for all you are doing to help educate others on the dangers of drug use and drug addiction.

You are an inspiration to everyone!

Thank you,
jenna

Bar L. said...

Darlene's comments are wise and helpful. Bath Salts, imo, are the most dangerous thing out there right now.

You did an EXCELLENT job. I could tell by the way the students were sitting that they were glued to every word you said! A rarity among this age group.

Please, please keep doing this. Its so important and I believe with all my heart that there are kids that hear your talk that will make better decisions because of the knowledge they now have. You may be saving lives. I am not saying that lightly - its true.

VJ said...

I am on number three and just wanted to thank you so much for your passion. I think you know that you are making a huge impact and I know you are saving lives. Priceless!

Your son said he did it all but "meth" scared him and would never do it. My son is a 36 yr. old meth addict living in a homeless shelter - your son made a wise choice on that drug!

Cathy | Treatment Talk said...

Hi Ron,

I am working my way through the videos as well, but they are wonderful. You have a great presence with the students, How amazing that you are sharing your story with these kids. I like how you make it so personal as well.

Momma said...

I just started watching your videos, and I have to say, I've been following your blog for over a year, but seeing you in the video was very powerful. You are amazing and I have to think this is making a difference. Thank you for your contributions... I hope you don't mind if I pass these along.

Anonymous said...

I think it is really important to raise awareness at the level and age of where the drug abuse starts... in high school.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Ron...these are amazing! Thank you for telling the story of all of our beloved kids. I hope and pray that education and honest discussion will be enough to save the next generation from the hardships our children have had to endure as a result of this terrible disease.