Pubdate: Wed, 05 May 2010 Source: Huntsville Forester, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2010 The Huntsville Forester Contact: http://www.huntsvilleforester.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2430 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) FOUND IT, NOW TO FIX IT "You can't fix it, if you don't know it's broke." Ask high school students anywhere in Ontario, and they will tell you drugs are relatively easy to find in our schools. It's a very real problem, but recent statistics show the problem might be greater in Huntsville. The easiest approach to the alarming drug and alcohol use at Huntsville High School would be to ignore it, pretend it's not really a problem. Of course, that approach doesn't make the problem go away. The statistics are frightening. According to a Centre for Addiction and Mental Health study, the Simcoe Muskoka area ranked highest in several categories when the study was conducted in 2007. Those numbers dropped when the regional breakdown for this area was expanded to include eastern central Ontario, but still sit alarmingly high. In 2007, Muskoka and Simcoe County teens ranked first in the province when it came to drinking alcohol (83 per cent of teens), smoking pot (48 per cent), riding in a car with a driver under the influence of drugs or alcohol (31 percent), and daily cigarette smoking (25 per cent). Local teens that showed indicators of drug use problems, like addiction, came in at 32 percent, by far the highest in the province. True, more recent numbers show a decrease, but health officials conducting the study have said results are likely skewed by the addition of east central Ontario figures. The problem in this area, they say, remains starkly severe. These statistics aren't meant to paint all area high school students with the same drug-tainted brush. Except for alcohol use, the vast majority of our students stay away from these potentially harmful substances. What these statistics tell us is that our area has a relatively high number of kids struggling with drugs and/or alcohol, or toying with them, on the verge of struggling. Health, school and law enforcement officials have to take a close look at successful students and identify what keeps good kids from succumbing to drugs and alcohol. They must also take a close look at kids in trouble and figure out what leads to such high numbers here. Is it higher poverty rates? Crumbling family dynamics? Weak school systems? A lack of extra-curricular support? Early childhood failures? Now that the very real problem has been highlighted, those are the questions that need addressing. And perhaps at the forefront is what health officials have already identified; most of these substances - painkillers, booze, pot and cigarettes - come from area homes. That's proof the crisis needs the attention of everyone. It's time for the community to take action - not just leave it up to schools, police and probation officers. It's a problem that requires the attention of the entire community: churches, municipal and civil leaders, parents, neighbours, grandparents ... It's a problem that can no longer be denied or ignored, lest it continue to grow. J.T. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom