The Coalition for Orcas Youth and the Funhouse are presenting a free film on Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. for caregivers and the children they love to learn about how the tech revolution has reshaped adolescence and its effects on substance use.

“Screenagers Under The Influence: Addressing Vaping, Drugs, and Alcohol in the Digital Age,” the third feature documentary in the Screenagers trilogy, delves into how the tech revolution has reshaped adolescence and its effects on substance use. The film debunks myths and depicts strategies parents and schools can use to encourage healthy decision-making, support teen mental health, set limits, and create healthy home environments. The film also includes many ways young people are using their wisdom and strength to help each other and themselves through this complicated terrain around substance use.

It is great for kids 4-5th grade and above and there will be a facilitated conversation afterward to support ongoing conversations.

Kids are vaping in classrooms. Dealers are direct-messaging teens on Instagram and Snapchat. Cannabis is legal in many states, with psychedelics soon to follow. The constant, 24-hour deluge of content pushing the normalcy of drugs, alcohol, and vaping on social media, TV, movies, ads, influencers, etc., is preying on our youth. The substance use culture has never been more appealing and accessible to teens than it is today.

While most documentaries about substance use focus on severe addiction, “Screenagers Under The Influence” fills a pressing need for a film that explores more common scenarios. The film is grounded in teens’ current reality of being flooded by images on social media, movies, and TV shows about vaping, drugs, and alcohol. Like the first two Screenagers films, it interweaves cutting-edge science with personal stories to create an informative and entertaining film experience for young people and adults alike. The film focuses on practical solutions for keeping our teens safe in a changing world.

Many national experts interviewed include Anna Lembke, MD – Chief of Stanford Addiction Medicine and Author of Dopamine Nation,), Lisa Damour, Ph.D. – Psychologist. Author, Under Pressure, Nora Volkow, MD – Dir. National Institute on Drug Abuse, Alisha Moreland-Capuia, MD – Prof. of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Sharon Levy, MD, Dir. of the Adolescent Substance Use & Addiction Program Harvard Medical School, Robert Jackler – Sewall Professor & Principal Investigator, Stanford Research Into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising (SRITA), Rosalind Wiseman- Author, Queen Bees and Wannabes.