BATTLE WEARY FROM THE WAR

People at the school district are shaking their heads in dismay and you
can't blame them.

Despite the many proactive anti-drug and alcohol programs in our schools,
statistics show that incidents involving substance abuse are on the
increase. It seems hard to believe in this age of proactive education and
policing that students continue to turn to drugs and alcohol. But it's
happening.

Statistics for the school year 1999-2000 show there were 61 incidents
involving drug or alcohol use. The year before, there were 46. This year,
so far, there's already 61 and we've got three months left of school. About
80 per cent of these incidents involve Grade 10 students.

What's going on? Are our students, especially those at the impressionable
age of 14 and 15, not getting the messages sent by various school and
community led programs? Anti-drug and alcohol programs are nothing new to
this district; there are about a dozen including D.A.R.E., Lions Quest,
RCMP liaison, Second Step, peer mediation and counselling, student forums
and special assemblies or events.

Some, like D.A.R.E. and Lions Quest, are targeted toward elementary schools
while other programs take place at the middle and high school level.
Despite this, despite having police in the schools, despite the education,
some kids are falling through the cracks.

No wonder folks at the school district are puzzled. It seems they've done
all they can to teach the dangers of substance abuse and yet some misguided
children still turn to them.

All involved need to investigate what's going on, determine how kids are
missing the message and somehow find an effective deterrent-if one even
exists. The debate should be opened on a regular basis, because drugs are
not a static issue.

There will always be kids who experiment with drugs. But 61 incidents in
eight months -- that's just during school hours and only counts the
students who get caught -- is too high. It's a tragedy waiting to happen
and that's unacceptable.