Teen Mock Bedroom Trailer Debuts at Chaparral Parent Prevention Expo
CHAPARRAL, New Mexico (KVIA) — Parents in Chaparral will get a close-up look Saturday at the hidden world of youth vaping and substance use as the New Mexico National Guard debuts its new Teen Mock Bedroom Tobacco and Drug Prevention Trailer during the Chaparral Parent Prevention Expo.
The event, hosted by Action for Healthy Kids in partnership with the Paso del Norte Health Foundation, runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Delores Wright Community Center.
The trailer, created by the National Guard’s Joint Counterdrug Taskforce Drug Demand Reduction Outreach Team, is designed to look like a teenager’s bedroom, complete with realistic hiding spots and everyday objects that can conceal vaping devices or drug paraphernalia. Organizers say it will serve as a new prevention tool across southern New Mexico.
“The reality is kids know way more than we do about vaping devices,” Kristen Ortega, Smoke Free Project coordinator with Action for Healthy Kids, said. “That’s why having the prevention trailer available for events like these can support the education and outreach our partners conduct. Demonstrating to parents and caregivers how deceptive devices and containers can look helps connect families to the information they need to prevent youth substance use.”
The expo aims to give parents practical tools to start conversations with their children about tobacco, vaping and other substances. Ortega said building trust and strengthening communication between families is one of the event’s central goals.
A broad coalition of regional partners joined the expo, including the Unified Prevention Coalition, Paso del Norte Tobacco Control Network, New Mexico National Guard Counterdrug Taskforce, Doña Ana County Health and Human Services, New Mexico Department of Health, Chaparral Family Center, the Borderland Out of School Time Network, the YWCA, the City of Las Cruces Parks and Recreation Department, the Gadsden Independent School District, the United Way of El Paso County and others.
The event is free and open to the public.
The Teen Mock Bedroom Trailer is funded by the Paso del Norte Health Foundation and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Operation Engage program.
