Drug addiction, suicide prevention and student outreach were the hot topics of the night when the Youth Commission met in the newly refurbished youth room on Tuesday night.

The main area of the youth room, which is located on the first floor of town hall, has a couple of new couches and chairs that were recently donated.

During the meeting, Youth Advocate Jennifer Cabral discussed a prime area of concern: the prevalence of opiate abuse among students. The Board of Health recently awarded Cabral a grant to address the issue inside the school system.

Cabral said that a few teachers she has reached out to were having difficulty explaining the dangers of substance use and abuse to students. Their biggest concern is that, since the decriminalization of marijuana in Massachusetts, students don’t consider drug use to be a serious problem.

However, the use of gateway drugs isn’t just linked to legality. The commission agreed there are social issues that can drive students to substance abuse and those are the root of the problem that must be addressed.

The commission suggested that bringing in speakers who have experienced the detrimental effects of opiates could be beneficial for students.

Cabral has received opiate training and is prepared to bring speakers to classes in the middle schools and high schools to discuss the dangers of illicit substances.

“The average student thinks about alcohol at the age of nine,” Cabral said. “It is crucial to grab these kids at middle school and high school because that’s when they're most vulnerable.”

The commission also discussed the implementation of a suicide curriculum to address the high numbers of troubled students.

The idea of a suicide prevention plan has already been discussed with the middle school and high school psychologists. Cabral received some suicide prevention kits, courtesy of the Riverside Trauma Center, that contain screening tools, a DVD and various educational materials.

The lack of student documentation was another concern for advocates. There was very little documentation of who was meeting with students.

Cabral has been using general progress notes that document what was discussed with the child as well as individual forms that document dates when counselors last met with students.

Additionally, though advocate-student confidentiality cannot be breached inside of extenuating circumstances, the commission found it appropriate to begin providing consent to meet with the advocate, offering forms for parents to sign off on.

The commission also discussed the necessity of release of information forms so advocates are able to discuss individual student’s progress and problems with guidance counselors.