SURVEY ASKS PARENTS ABOUT TEENS' DRUG USE

Ashland parents are being asked to complete a survey to determine
their concerns and knowledge about drug and alcohol use by
adolescents, and to close the sometimes significant gap between the
perceptions of adults and the realities of teenagers.

The survey asks parents to rate their agreement with such statements
as, "My child has never used alcohol," "Most underage drinking is
experimentation and just part of growing up," and "What I say will
have little influence on whether or not my child uses drugs or
alcohol." Parents also list which activities they believe their child
has done in the past month, such as smoked marijuana, used someone
else's prescription drugs, had more than one drink, used cocaine, or
smoked cigarettes.

"I suspect that the survey will show that what the kids know and what
the parents know are two totally different things," said Robert Moro,
project director for the Ashland Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Initiative.

Ashland's middle- and high-school students already completed an
extensive survey about their health and risk behaviors as part of a
survey administered last year to 23,000 students in 18 communities by
the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation. The results of the
survey were released this fall, though they were not broken down by town.

Each community can choose whether to release the town-specific
results. Moro does plan to share Ashland's results, but only in
conjunction with results of the parent survey.

In the MetroWest survey, 66.5 percent of high school respondents
reported drinking alcohol in their lifetime, and 42.2 percent
reported drinking in the past 30 days. The smoking percentages were
lower, with 35.3 percent of high school students reporting they had
smoked in their lifetime, and 33.2 percent reporting they had smoked
marijuana. Among high school students, 11 percent reported illegal
use of prescription drugs.

"Ashland is not any better or any worse than any other town, but all
towns in Massachusetts and the country have problems," Moro said.
Many teens feel "immortal, and that nothing can happen to them," he added.

And Ashland teens, to both their benefit and detriment, may not have
received evidence to disprove this myth of invincibility, Moro said,
noting the town has been fortunate to not yet mourn the death of a
teenager due to substance abuse.

Moro, a social worker, is in Ashland under a three-year, $200,000
grant that nine other area communities have also received from the
MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation. The grants focus on
preventing adolescent substance abuse, intervening with youth, and
improving access to treatment for those who need it, said Martin
Cohen, the foundation's president.

In Ashland, a group that includes Moro, police officers, a selectman,
school employees, and a town-employed social worker are joining
forces to accomplish these goals, starting with the parent survey.

The parent survey is designed to measure adult awareness of the
issues raised in the student survey, and also taps into parents'
attitudes about their own roles. For instance, parents choose
scenarios in which they might call another child's parents, or in
which they'd want to hear from other parents.

They also consider whether letting their teen-age children and or
their children's friends drink at home will "prevent them from
getting hurt or in trouble," or if it "sends the wrong message."

Once the survey results are analyzed, Moro plans to hold follow-up
community forums. Some will be small gatherings in families' homes,
said Selectman Arthur Shapiro, who helped write the survey.

The goal is not intended as preaching or therapy, but simply to open
parents' eyes to youth behavior in Ashland and help develop
priorities for next steps, Shapiro said. These steps may mean
standardized curriculum about substance abuse, as well as events
outside school.

"The old saying is, it takes a village to raise a child. And it does,
it takes a community," Police Chief Scott Rohmer said of the
collaboration underway.

Parents can access the survey at the school district's website,
central.ashland.k12.ma.us, or pick up copies at the town library.
Moro hopes to close the survey in the middle of next month and
present findings from both the parent and youth surveys in late
January or early February.