Pubdate: Tue, 10 Jun 2003
Source: Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber (WA)
Copyright: 2003 Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber
Contact:  http://www.vashonbeachcomber.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2606
Author: Eric Horsting
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

TEENS SAY DRUGS EASILY AVAILABLE ON VASHON ISLAND

Teen Forum II made significant headway last Tuesday in mobilizing islanders
to take part in an attempt to deal with risk factors in island teen lives.

Parent and consultant Bridgid Norman said at the start of the meeting,
"Teens take risks. We want to help them to take healthy risks. Every life is
precious."

And the 411 Vashon teens who took part in an Oct. 2002 survey conducted by
RMC Research Corporation of Portland, Ore., validated Normand's statement.

That report described a series of risk factors identified by students in
grades 6, 8, 10, and 12, and it named particular areas of concern that the
community can address.

RMC broke the responses down into four groupings, listing risk factors in
the domains of family, school, peers, and community. Several of the risk
factors showed up in more than one grade, suggesting a problem the island
needs to address.

In the family domain, the list included family management problems such as
unclear expectations for behavior and lack of monitoring as well as parental
misuse of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs.

In the school domain, the list included academic failure and low commitment
to school.

In the peers domain, the list included alienation and rebelliousness,
favorable attitudes toward drug use, and early first use.

And included in the community realm list were easy availability of tobacco,
alcohol and other drugs as well as community norms and laws favorable to
misuse.

Asked whether the survey is an accurate marker of the percentages of
students who might be at risk of being affected by any of the risk factors,
school district director of student services Dan Kaufman said, "The sample
was small and it was self-selected, so it's not maybe an accurate overall
picture, but the results are consistent with the anecdotal information we
have. The areas of concern are valid, and the number of teens affected
really doesn't matter in the end. One kid in an automobile accident is too
many. We want to increase gatekeeper skills among parents, about how and
when to intervene effectively."

That intervening is one of the protective factors (the opposite of risk
factors) mentioned by King County prevention expert Drew Russell, who co-led
the meeting with Norman, and he said, "This is not about responding to
negative things. It's about how we'll work together for a common vision."

Activating that vision was the goal of the evening, as Russell said: "There
are not as many community members involved in this as we need. We can't
leave it to the professionals. We need to have more voices involved."

Those voices, belonging to the 80 people who attended the forum, met in five
small groups (including one all-student group), each focused on one of the
domains (family, school, peers, and community).

Each group took on one or two of the Vashon-identified risk factors and
brainstormed about how to address them.

Students, for example, said that they would like to have a place for
under-age non-alcohol parties with no adults present; cheaper movies chosen
specifically for their age group; bowling; and better and safer
transportation from parties.

And a group focusing on families suggested creating a network of parents who
would verbalize clear expectations of teen behavior among themselves and
with other parents and with teens about substance abuse.

At the end of the meeting, those interested in working on those and other
projects were asked to sign up for service on a subcommittee dedicated to a
particular item.

After the meeting, Kaufman said that a least two of the subcommittees of PIT
(Prevention Intervention Team), the group that organized the forum, would
begin to meet this summer.

One would begin to address the possibility of creating a dialogue among
parents, students and law enforcement, and the other would talk about how to
create the parent expectations network. defining goals

Kaufman added that PIT would also be meeting in August to define its goals
for the next year.

PIT's effort at community involvement at the level it now is taking is a
first on the island, according to Kaufman, who said that smaller efforts
have been under way in several incarnations for a number of years.

Kaufman said that anyone interested in being on a subcommittee can call him
at 463-6001, or special assistant to the superintendent Diane Kehm at
463-6011, or Carolyn Zike at Vashon Youth and Family Services, 463-5511.
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