As part of our pastoral care program, the College often engages the services of outside providers to deliver presentations to empower our students to navigate their life journeys with courage and faith. Recently our Year 9, 10 and 11 students had the opportunity to attend a seminar by guest speaker Mr Glen Gerreyn, founder and CEO of the HopeFull Institute on the topic of ‘Addiction, Unplug and Untangle’. Addiction can affect everyone and anyone and Glen spoke to the students about the various ways that it can happen.

“Addiction takes many forms from substance abuse to social media and devices, and you need to be aware of how addiction works and to be equipped to make healthy choices. Addiction is more than just the physical attributes of chemical substances, there are the psychological effects.”

The session focused on the four psychological effects of addiction: experimentation, misuse, fixation and dependency. Glen demonstrated to the students the emotional states associated with each stage and the behavioural characteristics associated with them, giving them a realistic and practical understanding of how easily addiction can progress from one state to the next.

The session concluded by empowering the students to think critically about the core values that influence them. They were challenged to think about their risk-taking choices and were left with the task to make a decision in relation to their future behaviours and developing a plan for avoiding life-changing addictions.

Parents of the students who attended the session are encouraged to speak to them about what they learnt. Having these critical and open conversations with your children is an important component in guiding them through their teenage years. There are also a number of parent resources on this website – thehopefullinstitute.com

Mrs Robern Hinchliffe
Deputy Principal – Pastoral Care