ACCEPT TEEN DRUG ABUSE AS ISSUE THAT NEEDS ACTION

Whatever Survey Is Used, Bottom Line Remains The Same

Without getting too picky about the validity of surveys on drug use among
high school students, our community needs to simply accept the fact that it
is a problem that needs attention. A survey taken by students at Hilton
Head High School last year shows cause for concern. It shows that the
number of students who said they had used Ecstasy, marijuana and
hallucinogenic drugs was well above the national average.

Principal Helen Ryan said the results lack credibility because she didn't
think the students took the survey seriously.

She may be right. But it is a comparison to students around the nation and
they should all be subject to the same attitudes toward the survey.

But the bigger issue is not the survey. The bigger issue is whether
schools, and more importantly parents, are doing all that can be done to
curb a known problem.

A different type of survey administered by the University of South Carolina
is to be taken here next month. The school hopes it will be more accurate.

The new statistics will be welcome.

But in the end, the focus should be on how seriously the adults in the
community take the drug issue.

That involves education. A discussion of Ecstacy among many groups of
parents will show a great deal of ignorance about the drug, what it does to
teenagers and how one can tell if teenagers are using it.

Also, if the problem is to be taken seriously here, it will require that
adults keep a closer eye on alcohol use among students. Parents and local
businesses that sell alcohol can do more to impede underage drinking.

Courts, schools and municipalities in the Charleston area have found that a
national program called Parent to Parent helps them deal with teen drug abuse.

The underlying principle of the program is relatively simple: set
standards. It encourages parents to establish expectations with their
children about the day-to-day issues in the home: curfews, spending the
night out and parties. It encourages parents to talk to each other, to
check behind their children to see that they go where they say they are
going, and to demand that adults are present at parties and alcohol is not.
It encourages parents to be involved in their children's lives every day.

There are no absolute answers to end the dangers that young people subject
themselves to through the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Children often
don't listen to their parents.

But there is a lot that parents and schools can do, and it is that effort
that needs attention. If a survey -- regardless of its flaws -- helps spur
that new interest, it is a success.