If a picture can tell you a thousand words, a brain scan shows a lifechanging story.
An Indigenous-owned mental health organisation is using brain scans to show students the impact of drug use and chroming (paint sniffing).
Youth2Knowledge has travelled to hundreds of schools showing students the danger of drugs – and it’s launching a new website to make its programs more affordable for schools.
Director Charles Rolls started the program after losing friends to drug overdoses.
“There was no information or knowledge about it. Some of my good mates were just from normal homes, and I just thought if they’d had some Information or direction in life, I think the outcome would have been different.”
It prompted him to become a social worker and contact experts around the world for information on addictions to drugs, including ice and heroin.
Charles’ research led him to brain scans that showcase what drugs do to the brain, with the scans becoming a key feature of the education sessions, the organisation does with students.
His work also led to the development of a game which asks students to pick a brain image and match it with what’s caused it to look the way it does.
“The scans speak for themselves. They’re pretty shocking when you first see them. The scans allow us to peer inside and say ‘ok this one is from meth and this one is from heroin’, and it gives students a real face value look at what it can do.
With heroin and ice users there’s actually holes riddled all through the brain so it’s pretty confronting to see but we didn’t have this information growing up. Now we’ve got the technology to show students these scans, and they’re better informed to make better decisions in their lives.
It shows what neurotoxins do to the brain.”
Charles hopes the new website means more schools will get a chance to use the program no matter where they are in the country.
“Being out in the field, a lot of schools were interested but they didn’t want to pay for a presenter to visit. By having the program online, it just makes it so much cheaper for everyone to be able to do.
We just want to get this message out to all schools in Australia.”
Did you pick the right Brain Game Answers?
A – Healthy brain, B – Illegal drug use, C – Spray paint damage, D – Hit in head with pole
