Pubdate: Sun, 4 Nov 2001 Source: Ogdensburg Journal/Advance News (NY) Copyright: 2001 St. Lawrence County Newspapers Corp Contact: Accepts LTEs by mail only! Website: http://www.ogd.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/689 Author: Sue Ellen Mcadam Note: Accepts LTEs by mail only! Must be signed with phone number. LISBON MAN QUESTIONING HIGH SCHOOL DRUG SURVEY METHOD One Lisbon resident is wondering why area school districts plan to take part in a survey next month to figure out how many Students use drugs or alcohol and why, when the individual school results won't be released to the communities with suspected abuse problems. Larry Seguin says that the only purpose that the surveys serve is for agencies like the Seaway Valley Council for Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention, Inc., which is based in Canton, to stay in business and keep school district residents paying money out for studies and programs that are ineffective in preventing teens from using drugs or alcohol. One such ineffective program, he said, is Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.). He said a D.A.R.E. officer comes into a school district and tells fifth and sixth graders about the effects of drug and alcohol abuse. Some of the information is correct, and some is not, he said. For example, students are told that Smoking marijuana is addictive. They are told that using heroin or cocaine is addictive. Then, when a student experiments and smokes marijuana and doesn't become addicted, he figures that what he was told by the D.A.R.E. officer was a lie. When the teen tries cocaine, and then uses it over and over again, he becomes addicted. The students need to be told the truth up front, argues Seguin. No matter how much money is spent on surveys or on drug use prevention, no community will ever be 100 percent drug free, he argued. The districts should bow out of the survey since the results will be county-wide and will not be reflective of individual schools. How will Lisbon's or Ogdensburg's community know a drug or alcohol problem exists when the entire county is lumped together in this survey, he asked. Seguin believes there is a low number of students who regularly use drugs or alcohol. He believes that the whole issue is being "overplayed." He said that the schools have a revised dress code and school policy that includes a section that states students can be strip searched. "Columbine started things off, but violence is its lowest point now. Many students die in car crashes. Students need to be kept safe, but I'm not so sure that all the kids should be penalized for the low percentage of students using drugs. It's hurting our educational system. Teachers should be spending more time educating instead of watching the kids," He reasoned. Oftentimes the results of surveys are misleading, especially when all of the pertinent information is not included, he said. For example, students at Lisbon Central School (LCS) took part in a previous survey that examined student drug and alcohol usage. A flyer was taped to the wall in the school showing the results, he recalled. A copy of the flyer read as follows: "According to a recent LCS Poll: 70 percent of LCS students smoke cigarettes socially; 30 percent of LCS students are addicted to nicotine; 80 percent of LCS students Drink alcohol socially; 85 percent of LCS students have tried a drug, with marijuana being the most popular; 45 percent of LCS students use drugs daily. The Student Assistant Counselor is available every Wednesday in room 155." These posted results would make the average school visitor think that the school has a serious drug and alcohol problem. When in fact, only 20 students took the survey, said Seguin. After speaking with former School Superintendent Wayne Chesbrough about the survey and the posted results, Seguin said that he asked the superintendent to add a note on the bottom of the flyer, that stated, "This is the result of 20 kids. Chesbrough took them (surveys) down," said Seguin. Seguin believes the drug problem in the schools "is not as much as it is played up to be. It's being overplayed because of money." The results of the survey create an opportunity to compete for Safe and Drug Free grant funding by being able to document the needs for the programs. "The government is giving money to find drug problems. One feeds the other," said Seguin. If the school districts in the county go ahead and have their students participate in the survey, then it shouldn't be done like in Lisbon, he said. "It should not be monitored by a group that will gain from it. It should give more specific results, the grades, the schools, the results. Could the questionnaire be taken two ways?" he asked. "You can't keep the schools 100 percent drug free...Treating kids as criminals for a handful...Spending billions of dollars on a drug war that hasn't accomplished anything," he stated. A total of 16 schools out of the county's 18 districts are participating in the "Communities that Care" survey. Harrisville students have already taken it; Hammond Central has declined, saying that the school is too small. Students in grades 6,8,10,and 12 will take the survey during the second week in November. Permission slips will be sent home before hand. The surveys will be mailed to the Developmental Research and Programs (DEP) office in Seattle, Wash. The results should be known in mid-to-late January. The Seaway Valley Council believes that the "Communities That Care" youth survey is a fair way to help school districts find out why some students use illegal drugs, why others drop out of school, what causes teenage pregnancy and why some youths commit violent and delinquent acts. The survey is being provided at no cost to the districts as a result of the cooperation between the Seaway Valley Council for Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention, Inc., St. Lawrence-Lewis Counties BOCES, the St. Lawrence County Public Health Department, and the World Enforcement Board(WEB). - --- MAP posted-by: Rebel