RISKS OF DRUGS, ALCOHOL SHOULD BE TALKED ABOUT EARLY, OFTEN

Parents and school systems long have known that teaching kids about
the risks associated with drugs and alcohol needs to start sooner
than they'd like. Now a study detailed in the September issue of
Prevention Science suggests that those lessons might not begin early
enough to nip underage drinking in the bud.

The study, which reviewed state and national surveys conducted over
the last 15 years, indicated that 10 percent of fourth-graders
already have had more than a sip of alcohol, and 7 percent have
consumed a drink in the past year.

Dr. John E. Donovan, associate professor of psychiatry and
epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and
author of the study, said in a press release, "Early drinking relates
to a variety of other problems, including absences from school,
delinquent behavior, drinking and driving, sexual intercourse and pregnancy."

Those are big concerns for parents of relatively young children, but
they shouldn't be taken lightly. This is something Winnebago County
sheriff's officer Carrie Koepp knows from experience. As the Drug
Abuse Resistance Education, or DARE, instructor in the county's
public and private schools, she meets weekly with 22 fifth-grade
classrooms for 10 weeks.

"It's the age group where they're just starting to get exposed to the
gateway drugs -- alcohol, tobacco and marijuana," Koepp said.

The goal for programs like DARE -- as well as for individual families
- -- is to inform kids about the dangers of drugs and alcohol so that
when exposure to such substances occurs, they're prepared to make
responsible choices. But circumstances, risks and a child's ability
to handle information vary by age. That can leave a parent wondering,
"What does my child need to know when?"

Just the Facts

For elementary school kids, going into great detail about the social
and interpersonal ramifications of alcohol and drug use is neither
necessary nor meaningful. Instead, sticking to the facts works best,
according to Koepp.

"DARE is designed to educate the fifth-graders first and foremost
about the health effects of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana," she
said. "When I tell them there are more than 200 poisons in tobacco
smoke, they know the word 'poison.' They understand that. They're
not at the age yet to understand the details."

They also aren't at an age, for the most part, at which they have
experienced peer pressure, so role-playing such situations also
enters into the DARE curriculum, as it should in discussions parents
have with their children.

"I try to make them realize it's not going to be easy to tell your
best friend you don't want to hang out with them because they're
going to drink or smoke," Koepp said.

While emphasizing the influence, positive or negative, that friends
can have on a kid's choices, it's critical that a parent not try to
become the child's friend. Maintaining an open line of communication
on the subject but laying down clear expectations for kids from an
early age will have more impact than trying to be liked.

Of the conversation on alcohol and drug use, Koepp said, "It has to
be continual. It's not something you discuss once and you're done."

She recommends that parents use stories in the media or information
from DARE lessons as a starting point for occasional communication
with their kids about drugs and alcohol. Those chats also should
stress a parent's position on the subject.

"Let your kids talk, but at the same time, reiterate a no-tolerance
policy," Koepp said. "Just say, 'You know what? We don't tolerate
this because we love you and don't want you to get hurt.'"

Model Citizens

Jack Pautz, a longtime Kaukauna Area School District administrator
and principal, currently advises Kaukauna High School's PRIDE team,
which performs skits and dances with a drug education message in
other district schools as well as throughout the community. In terms
of teaching kids about drug and alcohol use, his most firmly held
belief is this: Far more important than what you say as a parent
about alcohol and drug use is what you yourself do.

"The modeling of decisions and choices we make as adults is a
stronger message than anything we can say about it," Pautz said.

That means serving alcohol, even only to adults, at a high school
graduation party or overindulging in alcohol in the presence of your
kids communicates loudly and clearly a point you probably don't want to make.

So, too, does serving a minor an alcoholic beverage in the so-called
"safe" home environment.

"We've told them that it's not OK, it's bad for their health, and
it's going to stunt their growth," Koepp said of the DARE program's
instruction on alcohol consumption. By providing a child with
alcohol, she added, "you've basically eliminated everything we've told them."

Driver's Ed

While alcohol and drug education for younger kids should center on
the health impact of substance use and abuse and tools for dealing
with peer pressure, young adults need to hear more about risks
specific to their age group. In particular, driving under the
influence should become a critical focus as kids enter high school.

"One of the worst parts of my job is having to call and tell parents
that their teenager is dead or in the trauma unit," said Dr. Ray
Georgen, trauma director at Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah.

That's why Georgen and others on the trauma unit involve themselves
in preventive activities aimed at kids nearing driving age, like the
upcoming P.A.R.T.Y. at the PAC, scheduled for April 3 and 4. Prevent
Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth, or P.A.R.T.Y., originated
in Canada in 1986, and Theda Clark's trauma center was the first
organization to offer it in the United States, beginning in 1998.

In addition to hearing from actual survivors of alcohol-related
crashes, the 5,000 ninth- and tenth-grade P.A.R.T.Y. attendees from
29 area schools will witness a dramatization of a group of high
school students who go to a party and make poor choices both there
and afterward.

"To bring this into more of a reality-based situation is a powerful
message," Georgen said. "Having some guy up there with gray hair
saying, 'Do this, don't do that,' has nowhere near the impact as
creating a situation that involves kids their age."

Again, though, attending a one-time, school-related event does not
ensure that kids fully grasp the potential consequences of risky
behavior. That remains the parents' job.

As with younger children, adolescents need to hear messages about
drugs and alcohol clearly and often.

"You can do it in serious, straightforward ways or you can do it in
fun ways," Pautz said.

He and his wife took the latter approach with their own daughters,
telling them each night they went out, "No drinking, no drugs, no sex."

Said Pautz, "The girls would say in a joking way, 'Can't we just have
sex if we can't drink and do drugs?'"

The lesson may have been lighthearted, but its message hit the mark.