ROCKLAND DRUG-AWARENESS FORUM PLANNED

Marianne McCarney knows that spending a day preaching to high school
students on the dangers of drugs can be ineffective.

Instead, McCarney, who is assistant director of the Rockland County Youth
Bureau, said she hopes if students are given access to information and
experts, they'll seek out what they need, and perhaps, learn something
along the way.

Next month, 350 high school students will gather at Rockland Community
College for the county's 15th annual Drug Awareness Day. They'll have the
opportunity to attend workshops that will discuss alcohol, marijuana, club
drugs and sex education. "We rely on the young people to be open and honest
with us and usually they are," McCarney said.

The information is always timely, she said. Earlier this year, the Parents
Resource Institute on Drug Education survey found that more than one in
three Rockland 10th-graders admitted to drinking alcohol monthly, a
statistic that has remained nearly unchanged since the first PRIDE survey
in 1996.

The PRIDE survey asks fifth-, eighth- and 10th-graders about their use of
cigarettes, alcohol and other substances.

The Jan. 8 all-day conference will feature a multimedia presentation -- a
three-screen, digital video wall -- dealing with binge drinking, school
violence and overcoming personal challenges.

Students, who will come from all eight county school districts, BOCES and
the Edwin Gould Academy, will then attend some of the 15 workshops being
offered.

The event is sponsored by the Youth Bureau, Town of Ramapo Counseling
Service, the Rockland Alliance for Prevention, Rockland Family Shelter,
RCC, the Clarkstown school district and Every Person Influences a Child.

Renold Julien, executive director of Konbit Neg Lakay, will be honored with
the John T. Grant Prevention Award. His agency, which helps Haitians and
other immigrant groups with social issues, has created a video in Haitian
Creole about tobacco prevention.

After the conference, school administrators, workshop presenters, police
officers, student counselors and elected officials will discuss trends
among youth that emerged during the workshops.

"We learn a lot there, too," McCarney said.