IN CARROLL, DRUG SCHOOL FOR PARENTS

Kids' Extracurriculars Tied To Substance-abuse Seminars For Adults

SOUTHLAKE - Parents in Carroll schools must head back to the classroom to
learn about teen substance abuse if their children want to play football or
sing in the choir.

Starting next school year, parents of students in sports and other
extracurricular activities in grades seven through 12 must attend a new
substance abuse education seminar. Carroll Senior High School principal
Danny Presley pitched the idea to a receptive school board Monday.

"Our kids know that drugs and alcohol are dangerous, but they make choices
to use them anyway," Dr. Presley said. "The kids know what's going on. They
know who's drinking, who's doing pot. It's the parents we've got to
educate. There has to be accountability on all fronts." Officials with the
Texas Education Agency and the Texas Association of School Boards said they
have not heard of another Texas school district making such a requirement.

Dr. Presley said about 80 percent of Carroll's secondary school students
participate in extracurricular activities.

Recent surveys have shown an increase in substance abuse among Carroll
students.The plan also comes after The Dallas Morning News reported last
month that nine Colleyville Heritage High athletes, seven of them football
players, admitted that they had used steroids during the previous school year.

Heritage football players told their coach, Chris Cunningham, that they
shared a common dealer with at least one Carroll football player. Carroll
school district officials said they have no evidence that a former Carroll
football player used the drugs.The school board embraced Dr. Presley's
proposal and asked him to develop more details.

Carroll Superintendent Gary Mathews said that the requirement would be
included in the student handbook.

"This has students going to Mom and Dad saying, 'You have to take this
class,' " he said. "That turns things on its ear in a good way."

Frank Colosi, a spokesman for the Fort Worth chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union, said he didn't think the Carroll plan would infringe on
parents' and students' rights but said the idea "may be irrational."

"Studies have shown that students in extracurriculars are less prone to
drug use," he said. "Doing anything that would discourage students from
taking part in extracurriculars is perverse."

He added that the requirement does assume that "parents need parenting
classes."

The hourlong seminars would cover substance abuse trends, warning signs,
prevention and the district's substance abuse policies.

City and school district officials created the Drug and Alcohol Awareness
Committee several years ago to call attention to teen drug and alcohol use.
Organizers say they are troubled by an apparent disconnect between what
teens say they're doing and what parents believe.

In a survey of Carroll parents conducted last fall, more than 80 percent of
parents reported that their children did not drink beer, wine or liquor.
Ninety-five percent of parents said their children didn't use marijuana.

Carroll students, meanwhile, reported an increase in the number using drugs
and alcohol over the previous year, with 68 percent of juniors and 77
percent of seniors reporting that they'd drank alcohol. About a third of
the juniors said they had tried marijuana.

Martha Looft is the parent-teacher-student organization representative for
Carroll High. She said that most parents can spare an hour of their time
for their children.

"If one parent in 100 reaches a student and makes a difference in a split
second of a judgment, then it's a success," she said.

Charles Breithaupt, athletic director for the University Interscholastic
League, applauded the Carroll effort.

"They're moving in a direction that holds people's feet to the fire," Dr.
Breithaupt said. "We all have a common goal: what is best for athletes and
all students in extracurriculars. They're saying to parents that they're
the first step in this."