Students caught using vaping products in the Boone County Schools will soon find themselves assigned to an in-school diversion program.
The four-week, one-hour, once-a-week program will be led by professional intervention specialists from Stoic Health and Wellness and will serve as an alternative to expulsion.
“Many of the current school disciplinary actions are connected to vaping and/or digital addiction – those are the two big concerns in all schools,” said Brett Blevins, founder and CEO of Stoic.
Stoic’s goal is to build better, stronger and more resilient young men and women, according to the organization’s website.
“You never know what they are smoking in their vape pipes – nicotine or THC, sometimes with a very high potency,” Blevins said. “Since vaping doesn’t smell as tobacco does, you never know what it is. The marketing tactics for vaping products is very similar to that used for smoking in earlier years. Kids see it as healthier than smoking tobacco.”
Blevins, a board-certified behavioral analyst, started the Stoic program in the NKY region in 2017 after having built a similar system of youth support services in southern states.
Stoic stands for stoicism – being able to control emotions.
The Boone County in-school vaping intervention program is expected to cost about $6,000. While Stoic is a for-profit organization, their funding comes from many sources: Medicaid, commercial insurance, schools and grants.
The vaping intervention program is just one of the services offered by Stoic, whose staff deals mostly with at-risk youth.
“Two years of COVID-19 shutdown had a very negative impact on kids who now spend 40-60 hours each week on screen,” Blevins said. “In 2009, when social media went mobile, there was a big increase in anxiety and depression in the 18-30 age group. But the under 18 age group, those needs really soared. Now, it is much worse.”
Stoic offers “wrap-around” services for those aged 11 and up in Boone, Walton/Verona, Erlanger/Elsmere, Grant County and Carroll County schools and at their offices in Florence, Walton, Dry Ridge and Carrollton.
Stoic counselors spend their days in area schools and then often help lead an after-school program held at the Stoic offices. There are group and individualized counseling sessions.
When kids come to the after-school programs, they first do something physical (without screens), then deal with positive relations, and then find something positive to do – vocational, educational, service to others or group events. They pour in after school two days a week.
“The kids come because their parent or guardian insists and eventually because they want to,” Blevins said. “Stoic becomes their Tribe. They bond together over shared experiences, foster homes, adoption situations, etc. STOIC has a diverse staff serving a diverse population.”
Blevins is one of the staff in four states (Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia) available to serve Autistic children via commonwealthABA.com.
For more information on Stoic call 859-445-8595 or visit STOICbrands.com.