This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
10/31/2018 08:30 AMSince November 2011, Catherine Barden and the Madison Alcohol & Drug Education (MADE) Coalition have been working to give teens a voice, give teens a choice, and give parents the tools they need to help children stay healthy. Catherine’s dedication to her community began long ago, however.
When Catherine was growing up in Killingworth, she noticed how teens were able to use and abuse alcohol, even in view of the police, because the laws governing alcohol possession and consumption were different for private venues than they were in public spaces.
Drinking wasn’t only a problem in local residences, but on the road as well.
“Growing up, we experienced so many alcohol-related deaths; I feel like kids aren’t drinking and driving like they used to. This is what made me impassioned…Anyone who is passionate about something can find their voice and make a change,” Catherine says. “A lot of times growing up, you think everybody’s smoking, everybody’s drinking. One thing I love is I didn’t take that path and I didn’t have a boring life. If anything, I had more opportunities.”
At just 13 years old, Catherine started advocating for better protection for youths. Two years later, she was attending national conferences. When she was 17 years old, she helped write the Social Host Law, which regulates alcohol usage in private venues. Five years later, that bill became law.
“It was exciting to find adults who wanted to hear my voice and give me a platform to make change. Now I get to do that,” Catherine says. “It’s weird to be 35 and say I’ve been doing this for 22 years.”
After Catherine helped write the Social Host Law, she continued to attend workshops and national conferences. Before long, she was directing the discussion.
“I never thought I would be somebody who would stand on a stage and talk in front of 1,500 people,” she says.
Through this work, Catherine overcame her shyness and came out of her bubble to become a community leader.
Catherine attended Central Connecticut State University in order to stay local and continue her work on the Social Host Law. Following graduation, she went to work for the Governor’s Prevention Partnership, where she was the technical assistance liaison for MADE in Madison. It was during this time that the coalition received a federal grant.
When the opportunity arose to return to the shoreline and shepherd the coalition, Catherine realized, “If I made the leap to focus more on a community, I wanted it to be more in prevention than technical assistance.”
Catherine views her role in Madison as one of both prevention and leadership.
“Prevention is really my life, and that’s kind of cool,” she says.
In 2017, MADE worked with students at Daniel Hand High School who met with Superintendent of Schools Tom Scarice to talk about substance use and abuse.
“It was incredible to empower them to meet with him for eight weeks, and to go to a Board of Ed meeting and have their voices heard,” Catherine says. “Kids are shy to talk to their state reps, too, even though they really want to hear from kids, especially about youth issues.”
Catherine firmly believes adults need to work with teens to solve issues like substance use and abuse, that they need to giveteens tools and support to find ways to improve youth issues.
“You get to find the trends and help work on it with teenagers too, to help young people by empowering them to help their generation,” Catherine says.
According to Catherine, vaping is one of the big issues this generation faces.
“A lot of teens vape and don’t realize they’re using an addictive substance,” she says. “They’re using nicotine.”
Catherine is also concerned about what the legalization of recreational marijuana use could mean for the community, and the national opioid crisis is on her mind.
“We’ve seen a lot of impacts from the opioid crisis. We’re doing really well with our high-school teens, but I’m concerned about older teens and young adults,” Catherine says.
MADE’s federal grant will end soon. Catherine has more plans for the community, and in return, many in Madison hope MADE will stick around.
“More and more community members are coming forward, saying this is so important and we need to keep this going,” says Catherine.
In addition to monitoring trends of substance use and abuse, Catherine wants MADE to continue to liaise between parents, educators, and teens. One program she wants to implement in the future is Hidden in Plain Sight, where a mock bedroom is set up and parents are tasked with trying to find all signs of substance abuse.
“I love the hands-on approach,” Catherine says. “We live in a really unique environment where, less and less, people are coming out to a meeting. People are strapped for time and resources…We need to find ways where people can continue to come out or we can get to them in their homes.”
Catherine intends on working with teens to produce videos, podcasts, and other multimedia materials to engage and educate the community asynchronously.
One such endeavor, titled The Parent Project, was spearheaded by Catherine and a colleague from Old Lyme, Cristal DePietro. This weekly Internet radio show provides parents with current and relevant information and tools to help raise healthy teens. Parents can listen anytime by visiting ICRVradio.com.
“I always want to be a resource for people if they have questions, if they’re looking for latest trends, or if they want to connect with their kids. They can go to the website (madeinmadison.org), come to events, and follow us on Facebook,” Catherine says. “We want to make it easy and approachable. Parenting is hard and scary because there’s no rulebook…The more we can give tools, the better. It’s important to work with both kids and parents.”
MADE is largely about prevention of substance use and abuse, but Catherine notes, “Kids are still going to choose to try substances…but it shouldn’t be a defining moment. We need to find ways to help kids make good decisions.”
According to Catherine, children who use substances at young ages are more likely to become addicted later in life.
“We live in a society where there is addiction and so many people are impacted by that,” she says. “The more we can do to reduce addiction, the better.”