Parent Resources
Parent Resources
The resources provided are designed to assist families with locating the support tools they can use to supplement and enhance learning both inside and outside the classroom.
Anti-Bullying
The Ocean View School District strives to provide safe school environments and support climates conducive to learning and intolerant of bullying or harassment. Ocean View School District has established procedures for receiving and investigating concerns of bullying and harassment. Students are encouraged to speak with adults on campus if they feel bullying or harassment is occurring, either to themselves or others.
Drug Prevention
OVSD Substance Use Prevention and Intervention Education
Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, all students in 5th and 7th grade will receive research-based substance use prevention and intervention lessons. Orange County Health Systems will partner with OVSD teachers to deliver Too Good for Drugs lessons which teaches the below character development skills to build self-efficacy, promote healthy development, and academic success:
- Setting reachable goals
- Making responsible decisions
- Bonding with pro-social others
- Identifying and managing emotions
- Communicating effectively
What support is available if my child has experimented with substance use?
OVSD School Social Workers may provide Stanford University Healthy Futures researched-based substance use prevention and intervention lessons to students who are found have experimented with tobacco or cannabis/vape. School Social workers also support families though referrals for counseling support or for services outside the school.
What is fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It is a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in California and the United States.
There are two types of fentanyl: pharmaceutical fentanyl and illicitly manufactured fentanyl (illicit fentanyl). Both are synthetic opioids. Pharmaceutical fentanyl is prescribed by doctors to treat severe pain, such as while in the hospital for and after surgery or for advanced-stage cancer. Illicit fentanyl is distributed through illegal drug markets for its heroin-like effect.
Why is fentanyl dangerous?
Fentanyl is extremely potent. It is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Illicit fentanyl can be added to other drugs to make them cheaper, more powerful, and more addictive. Illicit fentanyl has been found in many drugs, including heroin, methamphetamine, counterfeit pills, and cocaine. Fentanyl mixed with any drug increases the likelihood of a fatal overdose.
Fentanyl-laced drugs are extremely dangerous. It is nearly impossible to tell if drugs have been laced with fentanyl without the use of fentanyl test strips (FTS) because fentanyl cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted. Test strips are inexpensive, typically give results within 5 minutes, and can be the difference between life or death. Even if the test is negative, caution should be taken as test strips might not detect other fentanyl-like drugs, like carfentanil.
FTS cost approximately $1.00 each and can be purchased from several vendors, including:
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North America Syringe Exchange Network (NASEN) Buyers Club
Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that rapidly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. With a fentanyl overdose, two or more doses of naloxone may need to be administered. Illicit fentanyl is sold alone or in combination with other drugs. It has been identified in counterfeit pills, mimicking pharmaceutical drugs such as oxycodone. According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), counterfeit pills are more lethal than ever before. The DEA found that 2 out of every 5 counterfeit pills with fentanyl contains a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl. The only safe medications are ones prescribed by a trusted medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist.
Brightly-colored fentanyl, referred to as "rainbow" fentanyl, has been identified as a new trend in the United States by the DEA. Rainbow fentanyl can be found in many forms, including pills, powder, and blocks that can resemble sidewalk chalk or candy. Rainbow fentanyl, like all forms of fentanyl, is extremely potent and dangerous.
Fentanyl-related overdose deaths in California have been increasing at an unpredictable pace (PDF).
What is California doing?
The CDPH Substance and Addiction Prevention Branch (SAPB) works with many partners throughout the state to monitor and address current trends at the statewide and local level. CDPH works closely with local health departments, opioid safety coalitions, and other local level partners to support local prevention and intervention efforts. Working closely with local health departments, opioid safety coalitions, and other local level partners allows CDPH to support local prevention and intervention efforts that address the specific and unique trends and needs of California's communities.
The CDPH Office of AIDS (OA) funds harm reduction programs throughout the state that offer syringe services, naloxone, fentanyl test strips and other supplies and services to support the health of people who use drugs. The OA Harm Reduction Unit also provides technical assistance to local health jurisdictions and other local partners to add harm reduction services into health departments, clinics, hospitals and community-based organizations.
Resources
Publications
Sources
For questions, please contact us at opi@cdph.ca.gov.
Social Media
Keeping teens safe on social media: What parents should know to protect their kids
Adapted from American Psychological Association's, Keeping Teens Safe on Social Media: What Parents Should Know to Protect Their Kids. May, 2023.
Psychological research shows it is critically important to focus on how teens use social media and the type of content they see. As a parent or caregiver, you are the expert on your child. You know what experiences will fit with their strengths and areas of vulnerability. These recommendations are based on research and will help you and your teens be smart users of social media, avoiding the harms, and gaining maximum benefits.
1. Recognize developing brains may be especially vulnerable to specific social media features.
The like button and use of artificial intelligence to promote excessive scrolling may be dangerous for developing brains. Most devices or platforms have screen time settings available to help set limits. Prohibit screen time that interferes with at least 8 hours of sleep a night and remove the device from the bedroom to help youth practice healthy screen time limits and to support healthy brain development.
2. Monitor and discuss your child’s social media use.
Talk to your teen weekly about how social media platforms work so they feel safe telling you about their experiences without judgment. Ask them what they saw on social media, how they understand what was posted, and pose hypothetical questions to them to learn how they would respond to various situations they might encounter online.
3. Model healthy social media use.
Teens learn some social media behavior and attitudes from their parents. It is important for adults to model healthy social media use in their own lives; avoid using social media when at the dinner table or engaging in family time, and make sure your conversations about social media reflect the ways you want them to feel about social media use.
4. Watch for problematic social media use.
Keep an eye out for signs your child may be using social media in unhealthy ways. Your child’s social media use might be causing problems if:
- It interferes with their daily routines and commitments, such as school, work, friendships, and extracurricular activities.
- They often choose social media over in-person social interactions.
- It prevents them from getting at least 8 hours of quality sleep each night.
- It prevents them from engaging in regular physical activity.
- They keep using social media even when they express a desire to stop.
- They experience strong cravings to check social media.
- They lie or use deceptive behavior to spend time online.
5. Teach social media literacy.
Teaching media literacy means helping students critically analyze the messages they see in media—like TV, social media, and news—so they can make informed, responsible decisions and recognize misinformation.
Suicide Prevention
The Ocean View School District strives to provide safe school environments with positive climates that promote the healthy mental, emotional and social development of all students. If students are feeling unsafe or having thoughts of suicide, or if they suspect or have knowledge of another student's suicidal intentions, they are encouraged to notify a teacher, principal, school counselor, school psychologist, or other adult. Every statement regarding suicidal intent is taken seriously.
Whenever a staff member suspects or has knowledge of a student's suicidal intentions, based on the student's verbalizations or act of self-harm, he or she shall promptly notify the principal, school psychologist or school counselor.