TEACH RESPONSIBILITY ON DRUG USE, NOT 'JUST SAY NO'

According to a new study from the National Institutes of Health, alcohol
consumption at American colleges is a "crisis." The facts are
straightforward enough: 1,400 deaths, 500,000 injuries and 70,000 sexual
assaults per year. Predictably, the buzz is on about how to address the
issue. Cracking down on fraternity parties, "zero tolerance" and other
extreme measures are the word of the day, but unfortunately will do nothing
to alter what is happening.

In today's world, kids are raised with two conflicting messages with regard
to drugs: On the one hand, we have the hopelessly simplistic "just say no"
message, and on the other we have the "take this, you'll feel better"
approach. From infancy to early adolescence, children are treated with a
wide variety of pills, potions, unguents and injections, all of which are
administered with the goal of making them feel better. "Come on, sweetie,
swallow this it will make you feel better," says mom. When your children
encounter the first cigarette, joint or beer offered to them with the words
"try this you'll feel better," what do you suppose the outcome will be?
Having been primed to be a drug user for the entirety of their lives, how
effective can the message "just say no" really be? If telling a child "no"
doesn't keep his hand out of the cookie jar, how effective will it be
against keeping an adolescent away from other goodies?

The only thing missing is someone teaching kids how to use dangerous things
safely. Sure, we are told to "drink responsibly," but nobody ever tells us
what that really means. Rather than flipping a switch on someone's 21st
birthday and turning him or her loose completely unprepared, we owe it to
our children and society as a whole to ensure that they are ready to face
the challenges and dangers of life.

You may have a rule that drinking and other forms of drug use are
forbidden, but your rules are the very thing being challenged by a
developing adolescent. It is far better and wiser to teach them how to
safely mitigate the risks they indulge, rather than depending on
sloganeering or attaining magical ages to rescue them. The solution to
irresponsible drug use is to end the "just say no" mentality, and replace
it with "say yes responsibly."

Brian C. Bennett is a writer living in central Virginia.