Pubdate: Sat, 08 Mar 2003
Source: Island Packet (SC)
Copyright: 2003,sThe Island Packet
Contact:  http://www.islandpacket.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1514

ACCEPT TEEN DRUG ABUSE AS ISSUE THAT NEEDS ACTION

Whatever Survey Is Used, Bottom Line Remains The Same

Without getting too picky about the validity of surveys on drug use among 
high school students, our community needs to simply accept the fact that it 
is a problem that needs attention. A survey taken by students at Hilton 
Head High School last year shows cause for concern. It shows that the 
number of students who said they had used Ecstasy, marijuana and 
hallucinogenic drugs was well above the national average.

Principal Helen Ryan said the results lack credibility because she didn't 
think the students took the survey seriously.

She may be right. But it is a comparison to students around the nation and 
they should all be subject to the same attitudes toward the survey.

But the bigger issue is not the survey. The bigger issue is whether 
schools, and more importantly parents, are doing all that can be done to 
curb a known problem.

A different type of survey administered by the University of South Carolina 
is to be taken here next month. The school hopes it will be more accurate.

The new statistics will be welcome.

But in the end, the focus should be on how seriously the adults in the 
community take the drug issue.

That involves education. A discussion of Ecstacy among many groups of 
parents will show a great deal of ignorance about the drug, what it does to 
teenagers and how one can tell if teenagers are using it.

Also, if the problem is to be taken seriously here, it will require that 
adults keep a closer eye on alcohol use among students. Parents and local 
businesses that sell alcohol can do more to impede underage drinking.

Courts, schools and municipalities in the Charleston area have found that a 
national program called Parent to Parent helps them deal with teen drug abuse.

The underlying principle of the program is relatively simple: set 
standards. It encourages parents to establish expectations with their 
children about the day-to-day issues in the home: curfews, spending the 
night out and parties. It encourages parents to talk to each other, to 
check behind their children to see that they go where they say they are 
going, and to demand that adults are present at parties and alcohol is not. 
It encourages parents to be involved in their children's lives every day.

There are no absolute answers to end the dangers that young people subject 
themselves to through the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Children often 
don't listen to their parents.

But there is a lot that parents and schools can do, and it is that effort 
that needs attention. If a survey -- regardless of its flaws -- helps spur 
that new interest, it is a success.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens