OFFICER TO HOST DRUG AWARENESS SEMINAR

BLUFFTON -- Part of Lt. Thomas Loving's job as the Bluffton High School
resource officer is to find ways to get a thousand different teens to be
straight with him about drugs, alcohol, gangs and violence in the school.

"In my job, you have to find what makes a kid click," said Loving, a
Bluffton police officer who has been the 1,084-student school's resource
officer since it opened in August.

Loving knows his job would be easier if each student's parent was trying
just as hard to do the same thing. So he has helped organize a two-part
drug awareness seminar for parents, guardians and other community members
on Tuesday and April 7 at the school.

Loving will speak, along with Larry McElynn, a retired agent with the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration, about the signs of drug use and what
parents can do if they suspect their child may be abusing drugs or alcohol.

"If a parent knows what's going on (with his child) and cuts it before it
hits this door, we're ahead of the game," Loving said.

A student caught with drugs in school will be arrested, Loving said. He has
arrested six students for drug possession during this school year, he said.

Loving said prescription pills and ecstasy are among the drugs he has seen
at the high school.

The newness of Bluffton High means that staff members still are getting
up-to-speed on policy and getting to know a new crop of students. At the
same time, students are testing the waters, seeing what they can get away
with at the new facility.

What they've learned, Loving said, is that they can't get away with much of
anything.

"I hear students say this is a prison," he said, "and I'm very proud of
that reputation."

That reputation is as much a product of the student body's vigilance as it
is the staff's, he said.

"Most of the tips (of policy violations) we get come from our students," he
said.

But more can be done, Loving said, and that starts with encouraging parents
to get involved and stay involved in their children's lives.

Parents should know who their children's friends are, where they are and
what they're up to when they're not in sight. Any change in attitude or
slip in school grades is a sign that something is wrong, he said.

Organizers hope to get 75 parents to attend the seminar. Translators will
be there to assist Spanish-speaking parents, said Sharon Brown, chairwoman
of the School Improvement Council and volunteer coordinator at Bluffton High.

Loving said he's sure the community will tackle this issue together.

"We can accomplish anything if we come together as one," he said.