PARENTS MUST SPEAK UP

The "fried egg people" were in Kansas City this week, delivering a two-part
message about the war against drugs. One part is that teens and preteens
are the key audience to hear the message against drug use. The second part
is that parents are the key group to deliver that message.

Unfortunately, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America reported, parents
largely have "checked out" of their important role of warning their
children about the dangers of drug use.

The partnership has been active in the educational campaign against drugs.
This organization undoubtedly can claim part of the victory of statistics
that show anti-drug attitudes of young people are beginning to improve for
most illegal substances.

The partnership's innovative anti-drug campaign, aimed at teen-agers and
preteens, several years ago had an advertisement showing an egg being fried
in a skillet. The egg was compared to the results of drug abuse on the
brain. Many people now make the connection of the fried egg ad to the
partnership.

The partnership has done considerable research on how to keep young people
from trying drugs, including surveys of teens and preteens as well as parents.

The research shows that the best way to prevent kids from starting to use
drugs is to have parents who care that their children not use drugs and who
talk to their kids about the fact that they care.

Kids who report learning about the risks of drug use from their parents are
up to half as likely to use drugs, according to the research.

Unfortunately, said Thomas A. Hedrick Jr., vice chairman and founding
member of the partnership, parents are in denial about how extensive drug
use is in their communities and how easily young people can get drugs,
usually from their peers. They also think their teens won't listen to them
on this issue.

Kids will be kids and will experiment, they think, and there is nothing
parents can do about it. Some parents even go to the extent of providing
the beer kegs for their children's parties, with the irrational thinking
that their children then will drink at home and avoid risky behavior, such
as driving and drinking.

This is a very unfortunate message to young people. Risky behavior starts
with the parents' lack of strong disapproval about drugs -- legal or
illegal -- and with parents' refusal to accept the reality that they can do
something about their children trying and using drugs.

Parental involvement is the key here. How many times do parents have to be
told that? In every aspect touching children's lives, from good schools to
good family values, the involvement of parents is key to the success of the
young people.

Yet, look at these findings of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America:

Only 25 percent of teen-agers surveyed "learn a lot about the risk of
drugs" from their parents.

Forty percent of teen-agers said they learned nothing about the risk of
using marijuana, which can lead to more serious drug use, from their
parents. While 35 percent of parents think their teens believe marijuana
is harmful, only 18 percent of teens surveyed actually do think that.

While peers are the most likely source of drugs, only 43 percent of parents
think that teen-agers have friends who use drugs. In reality, 66 percent of
the teens say they have friends who use drugs.

Instead of telling their children that they have high standards against use
of drugs because they love them and do not want them to be hurt or ruin
their lives, parents are staying silent.

Because they do not understand that the drug problem has a white, young
face from suburbia, many parents believe that their children and their
friends are not using drugs and that they aren't available to them. In
fact, the research shows that the higher the income area, the more
prevalent are the addiction rates.

Young people who are minorities use drugs proportionately less than their
white counterparts.

Hedrick said that boys' and girls' organizations, scouts, mentoring
programs and other groups focused on youth-adult interaction help young
people to avoid the use of drugs.

However, parental involvemwent is "the key" to drug prevention.

"If we can help our kids get through their teen-age years without trying
drugs, they are likely never to use drugs as an adult," Hedrick said.

That may be the most hopeful message of all. It is up to parents to decide
whether the scourge of drug abuse will be repeated in their children's and
future generations.