GROUP SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON TEEN SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Chapel Hill parent heads effort to educate community on issue

CHAPEL HILL -- On a nice night last May, Dale Pratt-Wilson rolled into an
apartment complex looking for some action. She'd heard in school that there
would be a party going on at the complex. And sure enough, Pratt-Wilson
found a rowdy happening: teenagers sitting on car hoods smoking pot and
milling around with plastic cups in their hands, clues to the keg waiting
inside.

But Pratt-Wilson was not your average high school student looking for a
little fun on a Friday night. She's a parent who wanted to see firsthand the
kind of partying that some teenagers in town were doing.

"It was an 'everybody's invited' party' and I am an everybody so I went,"
she said.

She got there on the heels of the cops. The 200 or so teenagers in the crowd
scattered, running to their cars and sending out warning signals to their
friends over cell phones.

In the chaos, a cause was born. Pratt-Wilson decided something needed to be
done to curtail underage drinking and drug use.

"That's when I snapped," she said. "I thought, 'No, this can't be. We cannot
let these kinds of things go on.' "

Pratt-Wilson started the Committee for Alcohol and Drug Free Teenagers,
which aims to prevent teen substance abuse by changing community attitudes.
She said part of the reason why the problem exists is because too few
parents take a stand.

"It is not just a town problem, or a school problem. It is a parent problem.
There is a lot of looking the other way," she said. "The norm is, 'Well, all
right, they are drinking. I did it and I turned out OK.'

"You have to give a new message to the kids to say I care about you."

The committee is holding a series of public forums on teen substance abuse.
On Monday night, the group held a question-and-answer session where parents
could get feedback from Chapel Hill Police Chief Gregg Jarvies, Carrboro
Police Chief Carolyn Hutchison, Chapel Hill High School Principal Mary Ann
Hardebeck and East Chapel Hill High School Principal Dave Thaden.

More than 150 people showed up to gain insight and hear suggestions on
combating the problem. Parent John Ager said the discussion was informative.

"I think all parents are concerned ... or should be concerned about it," he
said.

Pratt-Wilson agrees. In many ways, she said, parents are the first line of
defense.

"I think they are the people who have the most power to influence their
children," she said.

Hardebeck, the Chapel Hill High principal, said the forum was a good way to
encourage parental involvement in preventing teen substance abuse.

"I certainly think it is a step in the right direction in terms of getting
parents involved and creating a partnership with schools and law
enforcement," she said. "Parent cooperation and support is essential,
because we all want our kids to be healthy and safe and make informed
decisions."

Parent Nancy Smythe said she thinks Pratt-Wilson's efforts are "fabulous."
She said she knows of parents who allow their children to drink and said
there is a need to change attitudes.

"It is very long overdue. Even the smallest baby steps we can make in
stopping our kids from engaging in risky behavior is great," she said. "I
just think Dale Pratt-Wilson is a hero."

The committee is planning another forum Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. at Chapel Hill
Town Hall. Among the topics will be forming a parent network.

Pratt-Wilson said the goal would be "to have parents all over town saying
that teenagers are not allowed to go to parties where there is drug and
alcohol use and put pressure on parents who allow that."

Jarvies, the Chapel Hill police chief, said Pratt-Wilson is brave to try to
tackle teen substance abuse.

"It is a tough issue that a lot of people have ignored in the past, not out
of any lack of concern about the issue but more about the assumption that
nothing can be done," he said. "She is taking what would be in a lot of
people's minds an unpopular position."

Over the summer, there were a few instances of vandalism at Pratt-Wilson's
home. Someone came by periodically and scattered beer cans on her lawn.

But she said she has not experienced open opposition to her cause. She
welcomes debate on the issue.

"I'm not deterred. I think that I am able to keep my eye on the ball, which
is about saving the lives and potential of young people," she said. "I think
that it is worth it."

Sidebar IF YOU GO

WHO: Committee for Alcohol and Drug Free Teenagers

WHAT: Public forum on teen substance abuse

WHEN: Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Chapel Hill Town Hall.

Among the topics will be forming a parent network.