TEEN SUBSTANCE-ABUSE CRACKDOWN DISCUSSED

SCARSDALE -- About 80 people met yesterday at the Scarsdale school district
offices to discuss a crackdown on drug and alcohol abuse among teenagers.

While most were from Scarsdale, parents from Harrison, Bronxville, Pelham,
Hastings-on-Hudson and Rye Neck also attended to hear speakers and exchange
ideas and phone numbers to better monitor teenage activities in their
communities.

The extended PTA meeting was arranged by Michelle Lichtenberg, president of
the Scarsdale High School PTA, as Scarsdale district officials prepare an
attack that, if successful, would make it tough for a teen to so much as
touch a beer can in Scarsdale. "There is no big expert who is going to
solve this problem for us," said Lichtenberg. "We have to solve it ourselves."

The Scarsdale High School homecoming dance was one in a recent rash of
teen-drinking incidents, including fatal car accidents in Carmel, problems
at proms in Rye and Valhalla, two unsupervised parties in Harrison that led
to violence, and teens and a parent facing charges from weekend parties in
Mamaroneck and Rye.

"We are going to set up some kind of a chat room, and see how we can invite
each other to meetings to continue dealing with our successes and our
situations," said Maureen Rosenthal, Harrison High School PTA co-president.

The speakers included Judy Santoro, Bronxville Parent Council chairwoman,
who spoke about changes made to her high school's prom following an
incident in which parents were called to take their drunk children home.

A pre-prom party is now held at the Bronxville school, attended by parents
who see their children off on a bus that takes them all to the prom and
brings them back.

Lichtenberg said she found the idea "revolutionary" and was also interested
in reinstituting the national Safe Homes program, in which parents sign a
pledge to prevent underage drinking and to be present when teens gather at
their houses.

Discussions included how someone might approach a parent to tell him that
his child has been seen drinking, she said.

Safe Homes existed in Scarsdale in years past but fell by the wayside, said
Scarsdale district spokeswoman Victoria Presser. The district's alcohol and
drug task force heads spoke at yesterday's meeting about starting it again.

The program is now getting off the ground in Mamaroneck, said panelist
Janet Buchbinder, chairwoman of the Westchester-East Putnam District PTA
committee on substance abuse and a member of the Mamaroneck Safe Home
committee.

"I find in our community parents are eager for increased communication,"
said Buchbinder. "After elementary school, parents aren't standing on the
playground to talk about problems and compare notes."

She said a list of Safe Homes parents is "kind of like an icebreaker. You
can call and check about a party and be more comfortable initiating a
conversation because they are as concerned as you are."

Scarsdale Superintendent Michael McGill called the meeting "a very positive
step."

It is, he said, in line with the district's current discussions to create a
"zero-tolerance" attitude toward teen drinking in Scarsdale and to support
the work of other communities.

Since the event, the student government at the high school has been charged
with writing a code of conduct for students. And the Drug and Alcohol task
force is working with students to sponsor alcohol-free parties. No dances
have been permitted at the school since the homecoming incident.

An important part of the new anti-alcohol strategy, said McGill, is to meet
with police to discuss enforcement issues.

"The law is the law," he said. "But how the police enforce the law in
various situations is far from black and white. You have the clear-cut case
of the parent with the keg of beer in the sunroom and drinking with the
kids. The unclear case is the parents are upstairs, and kids smuggle the
keg into the basement."

Some strategies currently under discussion in the district include academic
programs that are as strong on alcohol education as they are on
anti-smoking messages and holding conversations between schools and parents
to keep the anti-alcohol message clear and consistent from year to year,
said McGill.