Pubdate: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 Source: Montgomery Advertiser (AL) Copyright: 2003sThe Advertiser Co. Contact: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1088 Author: Ken L. Spear KIDS LISTEN TO DRUG VIEWS Red Ribbon Week Reinforces The Message Children Get To Stay Drug-Free As a small gesture, kids in public and private schools will pin on red ribbons or sport red trinkets next week. The colors only signify a larger message: Substance abuse is a serious, growing problem that affects everyone. But drug education advocates only recently have begun to understand what works and what doesn't. The solution is simple. What works: Parents hammering the message and setting the example. What doesn't work: Just saying "no." Red Ribbon Week, which kicks off today with a march and rally for schoolchildren, is designed to reinforce the message kids should get at home and at school. Participants will gather and the state Capitol and head toward Town Square downtown. Next week, schools will hold a variety of anti-drug events to warn young people of the perils of substance abuse. "Research studies have shown repeatedly that youth do respond to strong, clear messages from parents and others they look up to when deciding not to experiment with drugs," said Regina Walker, project coordinator for Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization, SAYNO. "Believe it or not, kids do listen to their parents on this issue. Yet the surveys also show that parents and others do this only infrequently, if at all, leaving kids vulnerable to confusing and mixed messages from media, music, peer pressure and curiosity." Recent surveys show how the lack of parental advice or guidance can result in young people being tempted to experiment with drugs. Columbia University's Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse studied the likelihood of drug experimentation of youngsters by the time they turn 15. It found that 95 percent of teenagers have smoked their first cigarette; 93 percent have tried their first alcoholic drink and 86 percent have tried marijuana. Closer to home, the 2002 Alabama Student Survey of Risk and Protective Factors revealed that 34 percent of the state's ninth-graders use marijuana, 70 percent of 11th-graders use alcohol, and 13 percent of seventh-graders used inhalants. This study was sponsored by the state Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. "It's a mark of our culture. We live in a very fast-paced, highly technological society. In the typical family, both spouses work and are working longer hours," said Larry Winkler, executive director of SAYNO. "They have less time to spend with kids. Kids are on the go more and there's less quality time." Winkler said young people are knowledgeable because they've been drenched with the impression that drugs make you feel good. If they are warned of the perils, they have the "bulletproof mentality" that addiction won't happen to them. The approach, he said, shouldn't be preachy but informative about the risks as well as the effects on the body and the mind. "Then they make a knowledgeable decision if they want to introduce a substance to their system," Winkler said. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman