GHOSTS IN THE HALLS

Students Participate In Unique Awareness Program

Their friends and classmates didn't realize they were
dead.

Dressed in black and with their faces painted white, seven students
from Bay d'Espoir Academy participated in a unique program designed to
bring awareness to the effects of drug and alcohol abuse on young people.

Dubbed White Face Day, no one except the staff and the students
involved understood the significance of the young people in the white
faces. The young people involved were not allowed to speak to anyone
throughout the day.

Each of the students involved represented one of seven young people in
the province who died directly from the effects of alcohol and drug
abuse from 2003 to 2005.

"These are seven kids who got drunk or high and died," said Cst. Kevin
Dunleavy of the RCMP detachment in Bay d'Espoir. "Either they were in
snowmobile accident, went through the ice, they drove while they were
drinking, they committed suicide, they overdosed. One kid...walked in
front of a moving vehicle while he was intoxicated."

The curious classmates and friends were left to wonder what was
happening until late in the afternoon when they given a presentation
by Cst. Dunleavy.

The event was a joint presentation by both the RCMP and the Bay
d'Espoir Crime Prevention Committee. Eileen Kearley of the Crime
Prevention Committee said they have had close calls with young people
in their area in the past and hopefully this young people understand
more clearly the effects of substance abuse and bring the issue
directly to them.

"We wanted to show you some of the real impacts," explained Cst.
Dunleavy who said the presentation was designed to be a reality check
and would hopefully help people wake up and realize this is a major
problem.

He showed a short video that he described as the most realistic
portrayal of what happens at a car accident. In the video a young man
is taken into police custody after crashing his car while driving
under the influence and killing a number of his friends and injuring
others.

"It will happen in this community, if it hasn't already happened in
the past," said Cst. Dunleavy once the video was finished.

Cst. Dunleavy quoted a report released by the Department of Health and
Community Services in 2003 (Newfoundland and Labrador Student Drug Use
Survey) that said 64 per cent of students had said they had use
tobacco, alcohol or illicit drugs in the 12 months prior to the survey.

Cst. Dunleavy said the statistics suggest that three out of every five
students in the gym that day had consumed alcohol.

The report also noted that more then half of the students consumed
alcohol, just over one third used cannabis (marijuana) and slightly
more then one quarter smoked cigarettes in the year prior to the
survey. Around five per cent of students had reported using cannabis
almost every day in the 30 days before the survey.

The final topic covered was methanphetamine or crystal meth. Although
it hasn't been found in this region yet, it is becoming increasingly
popular across the country, and has found its way to
Newfoundland.

"It is the most destructive and addictive substance," said Cst.
Dunleavy.

He warned students to stay clear of the drug known by a variety of
names including speed, meth, crystal, crank, ice, glass and crystal
meth.

The drug is highly addictive and people can become hooked after only
one use. One of the dangers people are worried about is that crystal
meth has been found in other drugs commonly used. Some marijuana
joints and ecstasy pills have been found to be laced with crystal
meth, sometimes making users unaware of the added danger they are exposed to.

Cst. Dunleavy showed a number of graphic pictures showcasing the
effects of the drug on the human body. Pictures depicted rotting teeth
and gums caused by the chemicals in the drug. Others showed large open
sores caused by the drugs and sometimes by users themselves by clawing
at their own skin.

Cst.Dunleavy finished the presentation by introducing the seven white
faced students and explaining the circumstances of the deaths of the
real people they represented.

As each student stood up he asked all the students what it was like to
not be able to talk to their friends all day and explained that is the
reality for some people that have lost their friends.

Mervin McDonald who described the presentation and video as intense
represented the young man who died after walking into the street and
being hit by a car while intoxicated.

"If you lost them today, what would it be like to lose them forever,"
asked Cst. Dunleavy.

School principal Shawn Fowlow said this presentation was one of the
few times when they had everyone's attention. He said at the beginning
of the day as he walked through the hallways with three students
dressed in black and with faces painted white, it was a very eerie
feeling knowing what they represented.

While this was their first White Face day, the Bay d'Espoir Crime
Prevention Committee hopes to be able to bring the presentation to
other schools in their area and eventually all throughout the Coast of
Bays region.

Statistics on youth substance abuse

(Source: 2003 Newfoundland and Labrador Student Drug Use Survey)

- - 58 % of adolescent students surveyed in Newfoundland used some
alcohol during the course of the year.

- - 35 % of students reported using cannabis (marijuana) in the course
of the year.

- - 18 % of Newfoundland students in 2003 with a driver's license drove
a motor vehicle within an hour of having used alcohol.

20 % of students drove a motor vehicle within an hour of having used
cannabis.

- - In 2003, 24 % of students in grade 9, 43% in Level 1, and 66% in
Level 3 had engaged in sexual intercourse. 39% had unplanned sexual
intercourse had unplanned sexual intercourse while under the influence
of a substance on at least one occasion during the year.