TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT DRUGS AT A.E.S.S.

Parents at the A.E.S.S. meeting on drugs found out that, according to
the students' self-reporting, forty-eight percent of grade ten
students have experimented with marijuana, considered by many experts
to be a gateway drug to harder drugs for about 45 percent of users.
The rest of the grades' statistics were there too. For grade 7, 10
per cent; grade 8, 14 per cent; grade 9, 16 per cent; grade 11, 35
per cent; and grade 12, 36 per cent.

Parents and community members who had "concerns about the current
drug problem at A.E.S.S. or would like information on school policy
and procedure" were urged to join the school for an information night
on Wed, Dec 6, 2006.

"We don't want [this problem]," says A.E.S.S. Principal Monique
Gratrix, "We want our students to be successful." She noted that the
drug problem, which includes harder drugs as well in a smaller
percentage of users, affects not only the school, but numerous
families and communities as well. The school hopes to put in place
strategies that shape where the students are headed, for the better.

During this school year, A.E.S.S. has only suspended two students for
drug use/possession, despite an increase in random locker searches.
This is because of the small quantities kids are carrying that are
easier for them to hide, says Patsy Graham, vice principal.

She is concerned with the last six months' increase in cocaine use
among students, a holdover from hard summer partying.

Though she thinks it is now on a slow downward descent, she links
cocaine use to the emotional mood of some of the students at the school.

There were several tragedies in school in the last year and the
fall-out from that is that some students have increased their
experimentation with risky behaviours. She explained to the parents
that sometimes when kids feel they have no guarantees to live a long
life even if walking the straight and narrow, they are at larger risk
of deciding to veer off and go onto a path of bad choices.

Frustration comes for staff with the freedom kids have at lunch.

For many it is a rite of teenage hood, to go about town on a lunch
break, but for some it is the period in which they drastically turn
their lives for the worst, meeting up with the drug dealers who prey
on kids looking for a high. The administration says they know where
the majority of drug buying is happening and the RCMP liaison officer
and Ernest Middleton from Community Services have often gone out to
add adult presence to Agassiz streets in an attempt to deter some
exchanges. In the past, there was not adequate financial provision
for the necessary number of noon hour supervisors and that also
affected lunchtime safety.

The district has recently provided for two more noon hour supervisors.

Currently, A.E.S.S. has a policy of a minimum of three sessions with
a drug and alcohol counsellor in order to re-enter school after a
drug use/possession suspension. Parents expressed concern that is not enough.

The school superintendent, Dr. Wes Neumeier, expressed commitment to
helping students lead healthier lives. "I want to be a partner with
you in making this happen," he told parents at the meeting.

He explained the policies # 7200 and 7400 on suspensions and student
involvement with alcohol, intoxicants, or illegal drugs.

After hearing one set of local parents tell their powerful story of
how crystal meth impacted their family, he committed to going back
and looking at suspension policies to make them more effective.
"[Simply] sending suspended kids with serious drug problems home to
devastated parents is not going to work," he said. He wants the
school to "intervene efficiently in a successful way."

Parents heard of ways to identify drug use in their kids by looking
for warning signs such as behavioural changes in peer group and
activities, grades drop, and increase in secretive activities. Kids
on drugs are also often plagued by fatigue, a lasting cough, red
eyes, and a new argumentative nature that leads to violence and
discipline issues.

Parents can take their kids to a family physician who can determine
if symptoms are caused by drug use or some other medical condition by
administering a simple drug test. Marijuana, for example, stays in
the body for up to four weeks.

Wendy Coleman, A.E.S.S.' drug and alcohol counsellor, agrees with a
pro-active parental stance on drugs.

We "want parental inclusion," she says.

The school "hopes to come together in consensus" with the community
as what should be done. Currently, they are increasing vigilance,
having speakers in to educate the kids on the life changing affects
of drugs, using care teams to support and keep accountable kids
caught using, and have made drug and alcohol education curriculum
available for teachers to integrate into a variety of classroom settings.

"Key is [knowing] how to keep children out of the drug culture," the
superintendent said. The drug culture is one of belonging and
availability. Students need to have access to more appealing cultures
of belonging. "Kids also need to see consistent messages of care from
adults across the board." That means no to parent and school
bickering. "When parents and schools fight, kids lose." He maintains
that, for the budget and according to schools of similar size and
need, "we have significantly resourced this school." He is aware, he
says, that the school is still lacking in some respects. "In
education there are always a surplus of demands." He does not think
that excuses the board of trustees from going ahead with more work on
students' behalf. "We have not done a good enough job," he says,
"Students are still using drugs."

Despite the alarming drug trends currently at work in the school, all
the experts believe it is something that will be diminished with
effort. In the meantime, they call for the community to give the
students "hopefulness." There are lots of students at A.E.S.S. who
have never experimented with drugs and can be encouraged to stay the
safe path. Of the kids who have experimented, there are those who
will not do it again and there are those who can be persuaded to stop
dabbling in something with dangerous life changing capabilities. Even
for kids hooked on drugs, we cannot give up hope. With the proper
intervention, they can recover and go on to lead the kind of lives
they can be commended for. Even on this journey of making the school
drug-free, "stand up and be proud of your school," urges the A.E.S.S.
administration. It is something that will prove to be important to
the kids who go there.

They need to identify positively with somewhere they are proud to go.

This is the first of a two part series on youth drugs in Agassiz.
Look for a follow-up article next week on the factors contributing to
kids using drugs and what the school is doing about it and the
resources they have available for parents.

It will also feature the RCMP's plan for a drug free zone around
A.E.S.S. and advice from parents who have travelled down life's road
with a drug addicted child.