Please meet Rand Teed, founder of Drug Class and DVD Series for home and classroom use.
1. Please introduce yourself to the readers.
Hi! My Name is Rand Teed; I live in Craven, Saskatchewan. I’m married, with two daughters and three grandchildren. I have a B.A., B.Ed and am an Internationally Certified Prevention Specialist (ICPS) I have been working for many years helping people, primarily teens, understand the effect drug and alcohol use and abuse has on their lives. I have been clean and sober since 1972.
2. Tell us about your website, Drug Class, and why you started it.
Drug Class is a website to provide teens, parents, teachers, and anyone interested with information about drug and alcohol abuse. It was developed as an add-on to our TV series Drug Class. This series can be seen in the USA on the Halogen Network, in Canada on IChannel, and SCN. It is also shown in Finland and Hungary in Europe.
3. Please tell us about your video series.
The Drug Class videos are the DVDs from our TV Series. We have done 39 episodes and three seasons of Drug Class. The series is a real look at substance use with real teens and parents talking about real issues. These discussions are incorporated into classroom sessions in which we help people better understand the nature of and problems associated with substance use and abuse.
4. What inspired you to start your website and video series?
I was running a similar program in several high schools, and the demand for our program was too great to accommodate our staff, so we decided to produce a TV series and website to spread our message further.
5. At this stage, what are the top three things you’ve learned about addiction?
- Both addiction and codependency are easy to “get” (be affected by), and most people have a hard time seeing that they are in trouble.
- Things can get better.
- Learning that changing how I think can change my life. If we can be patient, tolerant, kind, and loving, we can change ourselves and do much more to help others.
6. What advice do you have for parents just coming to terms with the suspicion of their son or daughter’s substance use?
1. Parents: Don’t yell; kids with drugs and alcohol don’t have hearing problems.
- Get educated.
- Get a professional involved.
- Get a support group. This is not something to be embarrassed about.
2. Individuals: Continuing to use drugs and alcohol will make things worse. Substance use is a primary problem, which means you can’t really fix anything else until you fix it.
7. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
What’s free time?? :), spending time with my wife and hanging out with family. I live on an acreage and have horses, so riding and talking to them is pretty cool too. I read, like photography, movies….. life is good.
Rand has been working with teens for over 35 years and, for the past 15 years, has been helping them understand how substance use can get in the way of having the life they want. Rand is the author of Which Way to Turn – Understanding Adolescent Substance Use and founder of Drug Class, or @RandTeed on Twitter.
