ADULTS MUST HELP KIDS STAY DRUG-FREE

The last week of October is nationally celebrated as Red Ribbon
Drug-Awareness Week. The theme for 2007 is "Look at Me, I'm Drug
Free." Local schools, agencies, and individuals have engaged in drug
education and awareness activities.

It has been fun to visit area schools and observe the innovative ways
students are presenting drug-free messages. Purvis Elementary School
students celebrated "Sock it to Drugs" by wearing wild or mismatched
socks the day I joined them. I was impressed with the questions
students asked about our most commonly abused drug, alcohol. They
listened to consequences experienced by people who abuse alcohol,
tobacco or other drugs, and were encouraged to sign the Red Ribbon
Pledge to make healthy, positive choices; solve disagreements without
violence; and to be alcohol, tobacco, and drug-free.

I visited Oak Grove fourth-grade students to emphasize refusal skills.
Role playing is an entertaining way to practice ways of saying "no."
It is a challenge for most of us to say "no" to friends, so planning a
comfortable response is an important step to avoid risky situations.

Because it is even harder to say "no" when you want to say "yes," we
used candy bars during the role play activity. Fourth-graders are
learning skills that will help them stay on track with their goals an
entire lifetime.

Learning to say "no" makes it possible to say "yes" to things we value
more. I wish I had the magic touch to keep every Mississippi child and
youth drug free. The encouraging fact is that a large per cent of
youth do not abuse drugs. Teens need to know that not everybody uses.
The statistics that concern me are compiled from SmartTrack data, a
state-wide survey of students, and from other national surveys that
indicate underage drinking is a significant problem. Some Mississippi
students report drinking before age 13.

Mississippi youth report driving a car after drinking; automobile
crashes are a leading cause of death among this age group.

Youths who start drinking before age 15 are five times more likely to
become addicted or abuse later in life than those who began drinking
on or after age 21. Youths who abuse alcohol or other drugs are at
higher risk to be involved in violence, have unprotected sex and
unplanned pregnancy, and experience problems in school.

Just as there are many negative consequences to underage drinking,
there are multiple factors involved in the choice to use. Availability
of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, peer influence, community norms,
family dynamics, alternative activities, involvement in positive
groups all influence the choice a young person makes.

Students who choose to be drug-free often report that parent
expectations influence the decisions they make. It is vital that youth
learn that choices have consequences and that people who are
significant to them care about the choice they make.

Take time to tell the child or youth in your family, your
neighborhood, your youth group, classroom, carpool or place of worship
that you care about the choices they make.

I have even bribed my grandchildren. One by one, we can build a
drug-free community.

Bettie Ross is Executive Director of DREAM of Hattiesburg.