Pubdate: Sun, 11 Feb 2007
Source: Journal News, The (NY)
Copyright: 2007 The Gannett Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.nyjournalnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1205
Author: Diana Costello

STUDENTS GENERATE IDEAS TO PREVENT SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Twelve-year-old Annie Gould is confident she will be  able to resist
drugs and alcohol, thanks to strategies  she and other students
developed yesterday at the  Putnam County Youth Bureau's first
Communities That  Care Youth Summit.

"Lots of kids get into high school and they're not  ready for it
because lots of people can pressure you,"  said Annie, a
seventh-grader in Carmel's George Fischer  Middle School. "I think it
will really help us in the  future."

Held at the Putnam National Golf Club in Mahopac and  supported by
numerous county agencies and local  organizations, the summit brought
together about 80  Carmel and Mahopac students in grades seven through
12.

The six-hour event was the latest piece of the  Communities That Care
initiative, which started in the  spring of 2005 with a drug and
alcohol survey going out  to more than 5,100 children. The survey,
supported by  the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse
Services, is meant to be conducted every three years.

Results showed, among other things, that 72 percent of  students said
they had used alcohol, 38 percent said  they had smoked cigarettes,
and 33 percent said they  had smoked marijuana.

A series of focus groups reviewed and discussed the
results.

Janeen Cunningham, deputy director of the Youth Bureau,  said she
hopes the summit will become an annual event.  She credited Carmel
Schools Superintendent Marilyn  Terranova and Mahopac Schools
Superintendent Robert  Reidy with helping make this year's summit a
success,  and said she hopes to bring more schools together next  year.

In groups of about 15, students brainstormed ways that  schools,
families and communities could create  opportunities and rewards for
children to keep away  from drugs and alcohol.

Adults stayed out of the discussions, leaving  upperclassmen to take
the lead. The groups then  presented their ideas to the larger audience.

One group wanted the schools to alternate hosting  family dinner
nights. Another wanted community service  to be rewarded with free
movie tickets or passes to  amusement parks. A third group wanted the
community to  build a recreation center complete with an arcade, a
swimming pool, computers and miniature golf.

The goal is to take the ideas generated at the summit  and make them a
reality.

"We want them to tell us what they want," Cunningham  said. "As
adults, enough is enough. We need to start  listening to the kids."

"It's not a school problem, it's not a parent problem,  it's not a kid
problem," added Naura Slivinsky,  associate director of community
relations for Arms  Acres, a Carmel treatment center for chemical
dependency. "We all have to pull together to address  substance abuse."

In addition to talking about preventing substance  abuse, the summit
also served to unite students who  have a history of a fierce and
sometimes violent rivalry. Students said it was another step toward
  alleviating the hostilities between the two districts.

"I think, little by little, tensions are starting to  decrease and
things are getting better," said Steve  Guigliano, 17, a Carmel High
School senior.

"It doesn't make sense that we even would have this  rivalry," added
Patty Daley, 17, a Mahopac High School  junior. "We're all the same."
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MAP posted-by: Derek