With addiction being at the forefront of many discussions, especially those involving young people, Portage Collegiate Institute is helping students learn about addiction and how to find help.
Janey Bradford, an Indigenous Academic Achievement Advisor with the school division, spoke to PortageOnline about the initiative and says it's as much about recovery as it is about addiction.
"When it comes to addiction awareness, it's really important to provide people, particularly teens, with accurate, factual information and just having a space to talk about it, to remove stigma, so that we can bridge the gap of awareness. Maybe prevent some long use when it comes to addiction, but also promote that wellness piece, that living the good life requires wellness and understanding who you are and just treating people as a whole. That's where we're really taking this addictions week," Bradford continues. "We've actually kind of rebranded to Wellness and Recovery Awareness Week. Because everybody can learn something from the information that's being presented and the different types of topics and just wanted to emphasize that people who use and who struggle with use or any type of addiction need to be treated as a whole person."
She adds that there will be something for everyone over the course of the week, and that students will have opportunities to listen and learn about many things during the event.
"We're having presentations throughout the week that teachers can sign up for, and students who are on spares, or if they want to participate in the presentation, they can come and be validated or join during their spares. There are some presentations that are running through lunch hour time so that kids that are on their lunch hour, they can come to the multi and sit and listen to the presentation. We have things about education and prevention to wellness and connecting to culture, and we're also invited people and organizations to come for like a trade show-type event on Wednesday where teens can walk around and see the different type of resources that are out there for them."
She adds they have a special guest coming out on Friday, who has experience with addiction and dangerous lifestyles.
"We're ending off with YK The Mayor coming in on Friday to kind of talk about his experience and what he does in Winnipeg to really round out the week event. He's an indigenous rapper who was in gang life and turned his life around now and does these presentations and motivational speaking to students to stay away from the life that he lived."
Bradford also gave kudos to the team of people who worked on the event, getting everything ready to help educate the students about addiction, recovery, and wellness.