Pubdate: Sun, 29 May 2005
Source: Kelowna Capital News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005, West Partners Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.kelownacapnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1294
Author: Anne-Rachelle McHugh
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

KEEP LINE OF COMMUNICATION OPEN WITH KIDS: EXPERT

The Westside's only school-based drug and alcohol counsellor says regular 
family dinners can help teens develop the skills they need to say no to 
drugs and alcohol.

Cherralee Roberts says talking with kids-in the car, at dinner or anywhere 
in between-is the single most effective prevention tool parents have.

"It's true, although it may be hard for parents to believe when they talk 
to their kids and feel like they aren't being heard," she said. "Doing 
simple things like having dinner together every night is important."

The importance of family meals is borne out by several studies, including 
one conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse 
(CASA) at Columbia University. The study of youth 12 through 17 found the 
more often children have dinner with their parents, the less likely they 
are to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs.

"As teens get older, they are less likely to have dinner with their 
families. This is troubling because the risk of substance abuse increases 
by almost 500 per cent between the ages of 12 and 16," said Ben Brown, 
ODMHSAS deputy commissioner for substance abuse services. "Only 37 per cent 
of teens in Grade 12 eat family dinners, compared with 58 per cent of 
children in eighth grade."

Roberts, assigned to organize prevention programs and counsel students at 
Constable Neil Bruce middle school and Mount Boucherie secondary says 
parents should resist the urge to pull back from their kids as they mature.

"I often hear parents talk about going back to work now that their kids are 
in highschool but if anything parents should go to work when their kids are 
young and know with certainty where they are."

Roberts advises the parents of teens and preteens to consider how they will 
discuss drugs and alcohol with their child long before the issue is raised.

"If your child comes to you telling you they drank or used drugs talk to 
them calmly about why, what the circumstances were, how it made them feel, 
and how they feel about the experience now. Also talk about strategies they 
can use to avoid future use or get out of the situation if presented to 
them," she said. "If you do the anger thing you're not going to get 
anywhere because kids will just shut down."

Talking openly about your own alcohol or drug use (or abuse) is also 
something Roberts strongly recommends.

"If mom and dad enjoy a glass a wine then explain why and help them to 
understand the way alcohol affects a child's body differently. Explain that 
a child can become an alcoholic in as little as six months, while it 
generally takes adults five to 15 years."

Glossing over addiction problems within the family is not advised.

"If addiction is a problem in your family then be clear about why you 
aren't doing it now and the problems it created for you, or is still 
creating, if that is the case."

Although teens continue to experiment with drugs and alcohol, most do it 
armed with knowledge that past generations simply did not have.

"A lot of education is being done at the elementary school level which 
helps to prepare kids for when they enter middle and high school," she 
said. "Go into any grade three class and they can rattle off the names of 
most drugs. They may not be able to pronounce the names properly, but they 
know them."

Roberts says experimentation often starts in the summer between grade seven 
and eight and typically occurs when kids are in a group setting where they 
are more likely to give into peer pressure. She is quick to point out that 
experimentation does not necessary lead to addiction, in fact many 
teenagers experiment with drugs and alcohol in much the same way they 
experiment with different fads.

"Kids are getting a lot smarter about it. Lots of them will experiment and 
then decide that it doesn't fit in with their lifestyle," she said.

That said, there are kids in the emergency ward with alcohol poisoning 
almost every weekend, some for their second or third time.

Roberts says teens who become addicted to cigarettes, alcohol or drugs 
often come to her struggling to quit something they only intended to try.

Students addicted to marijuana tell her they can no longer think clearly or 
go for long without coughing uncontrollably.

"Kids will come to me and say they are tired of being stupid because they 
know they aren't stupid," she said. "One of the boys I worked with this 
year had to give up hockey because he couldn't do the drills or last an 
hour on the ice."

The student, a hockey player since the age of four, is a heavy marijuana 
user who still hasn't managed to kick the habit.

"It really bothers him, but he isn't able to make that step (and quit) 
right now," she said.

Roberts says one of the challenges she faces is convincing students and 
some parents that "anything rolled up, lit on fire and inhaled" is bad for 
them.

Marijuana is no longer the tame drug is once was. THC levels - the main 
ingredient and the agent that determines its strength - have risen from a 
mere one to three per cent to 15 to 20 per cent. Effects lasting up to four 
days include lethargy, confusion and memory problems.

"Right now I'm concentrating on getting the message out that smoking 
marijuana is worse for the body than smoking cigarettes because that 
message just doesn't seem to have gotten out," she said.

"They often don't see smoking a cigarette and smoking marijuana as the same 
thing. Some older adults don't think it (marijuana) is a big deal either 
because they don't realize how strong it is."

Roberts says parents who are unfamiliar with drugs and their effects need 
not worry they will miss signs of use or abuse, as long as they stay 
connected with their kids and watch for changing behaviours such as falling 
grades.

"Parents will ask me what (drugs) look like and what the terms are and I 
tell them to watch their kid's behaviour for changes because you'll never 
keep up with the terminology or what various drugs look like," she said.

Roberts is the only drug and alcohol councillor in school district #23 and 
is assigned randomly to work at one or two schools.

She spends 70 per cent of her time organizing events and about 30 per cent 
counseling students dealing with drug and alcohol problems.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom