PARENTS, BE AWARE

Drug Use More Common Than You May Realize

Not my kid."

That's the refrain many parents repeat amid reports of heroin in high
schools. Sure, teenagers might drink or even smoke a joint. But a
beer isn't a big deal, some parents say. Heroin? That's hard-core.

Most teens don't start by sticking a needle in their arms, though.
They chug a beer or take a puff. That could be "your kid."

And each time kids experiment, the good judgment they've learned gets
hazy. Trying something stronger - just this once - doesn't seem like
such a bad idea.

Almost 10 years ago, a rash of heroin overdoses in Plano sounded an
alarm for parents. The suburbs weren't a haven, they realized. Many
relaxed, though, when the headlines and the hype subsided.

Craig Thayer wants families to know that the problem didn't disappear
when it moved off the front page. Even though his 16-year-old son,
Brenden, had been troubled, Mr. Thayer had convinced himself it was
"not my kid" who would overdose on drugs. Then he found Brenden face
up in his bed, dead after snorting black tar heroin.

Mr. Thayer laid bare his heartbreak in The Dallas Morning News this
week, saying that "if reading my story can help just one family sort
out their problems, then it's worth it."

This wasn't an isolated incident. Plano police have seen a spike in
heroin overdoses in recent years. And in every suburb and every city,
there are similar sad stories. Almost one-third of seventh-through
12th-graders in Texas reported trying illicit drugs in a state survey.

Even more unsettling than the statistics is the fact that kids seem
unfazed by it all. Parties usually involve drinking, they say with a
shrug. And drugs are pretty easy to come by.

Parents can't afford to be so casual. Mr. Thayer regrets telling his
kids that he dabbled in drugs. He wishes he had insisted on meeting
Brenden's friends. He wonders what other signs he missed.

The Thayers' tragedy is a reminder for all families. "Not my kid" is
not the way to keep children safe.