NOVEMBER 2017

Under God’s Wings to focus
on teen issues, opioid crisis
BY CRYSTAL KASSAB JABIRO
Last year, youth leaders at St. Thomas Chaldean
Catholic Church in West Bloomfield
reached out to parents to get them more
involved in their teenagers’ lives. They felt there
needed to be more parent-child engagement to support
the morals and values that should be at the
heart of a faith-based family.
Parents organized and did a trial run of a chastity
and purity talk during girls CREW, a middle school
church group, now known as J2S (Journey to Sainthood).
They used a video by Jason Evert, an internationally
known Catholic author and speaker and
founder of the Chastity Project (chastityproject.com)
to springboard the conversation. Based on the positive
reactions, the idea of Under God’s Wings, a parent
group, was born at St. Thomas.
“We need to get together as parents and address
these issues,” said Yasmeen Abbo, a program committee
member.
While sexuality may be an uncomfortable topicand
the language even more distressing- children will
benefit from these real, though maybe awkward, conversations
with their parents.
Abbo uses the Catholic website formed.org to
learn valuable information and to teach it and discuss
it with her kids. She is not relying on the ordinary
school health class.
“I’m not putting blinders on my eyes, but I will
teach chastity and purity,” she insists.
Under God’s Wings will be meeting monthly to
address topics of concern to teens and children. The
purpose is to educate, inform, and provide resources
to help build stronger Catholic families. In October,
they addressed internet safety.
This month’s Under God’s Wings topic is drug
awareness and prevention. The group of parent volunteers
hope other moms and dads come together
to learn the signs of abuse, to remain connected to
their children in order to prevent addiction, and to
get treatment for their children if necessary. Basically,
they want parents to be “in the know.”
“There is a need – especially for the parents of
young children – to go back to the church and relearn
the morals and values that were taught to us,” said
Abbo.
Often a taboo topic in the Chaldean community,
Lindsay Najor Ph.D., wishes to shed light on the drug
epidemic at the next Under God’s Wings meeting on
Wednesday, November 15. She recently received her
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Michigan
School of Professional Psychology. She completed
her dissertation on “The Parents’ Experience of their
Child’s Opiate Addiction.”
Najor, 32, stresses, “You have to talk to your kids
about drugs.”
Despite the increasing availability of medicinal
marijuana in Michigan, it is still considered a gateway
drug. According to Najor, all of her participants’ children
started experimenting with marijuana before going
to opiates. Marijuana can lead to prescription drug
dependency like OxyContin and then to illegal drugs,
like heroine. Illegal drug use tends to be contingent
on parent-child relationships, not so much on peers.
“You have to be interested in your kids,” Najor
asserted. “You have to give them your attention and
time, not material items.”
Najor notes that the Chaldean community, like
other collective cultures such as the Italians, are
opening up to dealing with substance and drug abuse.
Too often, these issues are kept as family secrets for
fear of blame and embarrassment.
“You don’t have to put your business out there, but
a family cannot solve its child’s problems alone. Addicts
need professional help,” said Najor. “And even
then, they might not recover. It’s entirely up to the
addict.”
Only 20 percent of opiate addicts recover, she continued.
The rest either do not recuperate or die.
Parents need to recognize how much influence
they have over their children’s decisions. This is not
to condemn their parenting styles, but to acknowledge
how they need to model appropriate behavior.
For example, if a child is struggling with alcoholism,
his or her parents and siblings should not drink nor
should they have liquor in the house.
As the guest lecturer at Under God’s Wings, Najor
will teach parents to notice the signs of substance
abuse, which include withdrawal from family and inconsistent
weight gain and loss. She will also encourage
parents of addicts to look into treatment centers to
get their children the help they need. She believes it
is important for parents to educate themselves before
they attempt to educate their children. There will also
be a personal testimony from a community member.
“Your child is abusing drugs to cope with something,”
she maintained. “You have to know what that
is and get them help before it is too late.”
5 Bits of Advice
from Dr. Najor
• Be involved in your child’s life and
spend time with them every day.
• Set clear expectations and enforce
them daily.
• Be a positive role model because
children imitate their parents.
• Help your children choose their
friends wisely and feel comfortable in
social situations.
• Talk to them about drugs. Short conversations
go a long way. Stay engaged!
Gateway drug: a habit-forming substance
(i.e. Alcohol and cigarettes) that may
lead to the use of other more addictive
substances in the future (i.e. Prescriptions
drugs like Vicodin and cocaine).
Fast Facts About
Teens and Drug Use
www.dosomething.org
• More teens die from prescription
drugs than heroine/cocaine combined.
• One third of teenagers who live in
states with medical marijuana laws get
their pot from other people’s prescriptions.
• By the 8th grade, 28 percent of adolescents
have consumed alcohol, 15
percent have smoked cigarettes, and
16.5 percent have used marijuana.
• About 50 percent of high school
seniors do not think it’s harmful to try
crack or cocaine once or twice and 40
percent believe it’s not harmful to use
heroin once or twice.
• Teens who consistently learn about
the risks of drugs from their parents are
up to 50 percent less likely to use drugs
than those who don’t.
Under God’s Wings will be meeting on
Wednesday, November 15, 2017 at St.
Thomas in West Bloomfield. All parents
and caring family figures are welcome.
Questions or suggestions could be emailed to
stthomasfamilieslovingchrist@gmail.com.
Looking Ahead:
How to Raise Strong Catholic
Families in Today’s Culture
Wednesday, December 15, 2017
6:30-8:30
Dr. Lindsay Najor can be reached at
Dennis & Moye & Associates, 1750
South Telegraph Road, Bloomfield
Hills, MI 48302. She treats clients
10 and older. You can call her at
248.842.6499 or email her
lindsayanajor@gmail.com.
36 CHALDEAN NEWS NOVEMBER 2017