LOCAL EXPERTS SAY PREVENTING TEEN DRUG ABUSE STARTS AT HOME

The manager of a health clinic that deals with drug addicts every day
says addiction among kids is up, and she has some theories as to why.

Alcohol is the most widely abused drug among young people, said
Margaret Dykeman, a University of New Brunswick nursing professor and
manager of UNB's community health clinic in downtown
Fredericton.

The province's 2007 student drug use survey indicates that 50 per cent
of students from grades 7 to 12 used alcohol in 2007.

The next drug on the list is marijuana, and half as many teens
reported using that the same year.

Dykeman said one of the problems with booze is the casual attitude
many parents and society as a whole has toward it.

Some young alcoholics are coming from families with a history of
alcohol abuse, she said.

Dykeman said in some cases, parents think it's OK to give their kids
alcohol as long as they're supervising them.

It's not OK, she said, as alcohol and other drugs affect children's
developing bodies in more profound and harmful ways.

An adult's body is better able to process booze and drugs and expel
them, she said, but children's bodies don't react the same way.

Addiction can start more quickly in a child, Dykeman
said.

Another risk factor is society's resistance to acknowledge the
problem, she said.

Many parents have their heads in the sand when it comes to the dangers
of drugs, Dykeman said.

They think they can put off the drug talk with their kids until their
teen years, she said, and that's simply not the case.

Drug education can't just be left to the school system, Dykeman
said.

Leo Hayes High School principal Kevin Pottle agrees, noting the school
system's efforts to deal with youth drug issues and awareness programs
need to go hand in hand with efforts at home and in the community as a
whole.

"The school system has responded to the challenges that society
faces," he said.

Society has changed, he said, along with its taboos, problems and
accepted behaviours.

One possible reason that drug use among youths is on the rise, Pottle
said, is the previous generation has had more experiences with them.

"You have parents who have come up through a drug culture as well," he
said.

Depictions of drugs and alcohol in pop culture is a factor as well, he
said.

If characters on a sitcom are casual about alcohol and marijuana use,
for example, the kids who watch it can see it as casual and acceptable
as well, Pottle said.

The school's main policy when it comes to students found using or in
possession of drugs or alcohol, he said, is discipline first in the
form of suspensions.

If any quantity of any drug is found at school, he said, the police
are called.

But Pottle said disciplinary measures have to be balanced with efforts
to help affected students as well.

He said students with substance-abuse issues are encouraged to meet
with guidance counsellors as well as counsellors from addictions services.

Gordon Skead, regional director for addiction services with River
Valley Health, said addiction services has resource people in high
schools throughout the health region.

Schools from throughout the health authority's coverage area refer
about 425 students to his unit for treatment every year, he said.

Pottle said addictions counsellors come to Leo Hayes once a week to
meet with teen patients.

There are individual counselling sessions, he said, as well as group
therapy.

Just as important in terms of prevention, Pottle said, is what
teachers now call "character education," or more involvement in
extracurricular activities.

If children are busy with fun and personally rewarding activities such
as sports, music or other outlets, Pottle said, they will be less
tempted to look for an escape in drugs.