Pubdate: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK) Copyright: 2003 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.news-miner.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/764 Cited: the National Institute on Drug Abuse www.drugabuse.gov Cited: the Office of National Drug Control Policy www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) DRUGS IN SCHOOLS Plenty of ideas to curb use of illegal drugs in schools came out of last week's meeting between Fairbanks school board members and representatives of local law enforcement agencies. But one was notably absent from an account of the session. Parental inquiry. How can it be that drugs such as marijuana and cocaine are, as one Alaska State Trooper told board members, easy for students to get? Marijuana is what youngsters want, he said. More alarming is the comment that cocaine, a drug that can ruin a life with great rapidity, is gaining favor among school-age children. Illegal drugs, as difficult as it may seem, have already found their way into elementary schools. Law enforcement agencies are limited in what they can achieve, however. They already work closely with the schools, but only so much can be accomplished when schools have hundreds of students. So the fight against drug abuse can be furthered best from only two other places: the education system and the home. The schools are trying. A special task force on student discipline might come up with recommendations for battling drugs on school grounds, but will any suggestions go far enough? Opposition would no doubt surface to some of the possible choices: mandatory drug testing for students involved in extracurricular activities, closing the high school campuses during school hours, calling law agencies about a student's suspected drug use before calling that student's parents. Less clear is whether parents are doing all they can. What is clear is that the lure of drugs and the creativity of children make it a difficult effort, one that has perhaps become more so with the advent of pagers and cell phones that make it easier for drug transactions to occur. How important is parental involvement in preventing drug abuse? The National Institute on Drug Abuse says parental monitoring and supervision are critical. So is parental education about drugs. "Drug education and information for parents or caregivers reinforces what children are learning about the harmful effects of drugs and opens opportunities for family discussions about the abuse of legal and illegal substances," the institute says in one of its reports. Fairbanks educators are advancing their discussion of what to do. Parents should consider doing likewise with their children. They can find information online from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (www.drugabuse.gov) and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov). - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin