SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN SCHOOLS GROWING

Lee Students Fare Worse Than State Average

Cypress Lake High School ninth-grader Valerie Bradley isn't surprised
when she walks by a school bathroom with cigarette smoke billowing
out the door.

Or that some classmates talk freely about their experimentation with
marijuana and prescription painkillers.

Bradley's drug education began three years ago in the 6th grade when
a classmate was arrested for bringing marijuana to school.

"It was funny then, because nobody really understood," Bradley said.
"It's more common now and not so shocking."

That could be an understatement.

Drug use among Lee County students was much higher than the state
average in 17 out of 20 substance abuse categories, according to the
results of a Florida Department of Children and Families' 2000 Youth
Substance Abuse Survey.

A little over 18 percent of Lee County middle school and high school
students surveyed said they used an illegal drug in the last 30 days,
compared to 15 percent of students across the state.

Almost 16 percent of those students also said they had been drunk or
high on drugs while at school. That's 33 percent higher than the
state average.

Administrators and drug counselors know drugs are a problem here are
working to combat it.

The Lee County Coalition for a Drug-Free Southwest Florida is
sponsoring National Red Ribbon Week 2001, a program that begins
Saturday. Millions of young people and adults across the country will
celebrate a healthy, drug-free life by wearing a red ribbon.

Fort Myers Mayor Jim Humphrey planted a red rose at a former drug
dealer hang-out turned prayer garden Saturday to kick off the week,
which has the theme, "Plant the Promise to Keep Kids Drug Free."

The week is packed with activities like parties, anti-drug rallies
and a program at which high school and middle school principals will
learn to recognize drug abuse.

Many classroom doors are already decorated with anti-drug messages.

This year the week is particularly important in the wake of substance
abuse survey.

According to the survey, in the last 30 days:

22 percent of Lee County high school students and 7.2 percent of
middle school students used marijuana.

Almost 7 percent of Lee County high school students and 2.5 percent
of middle school students experimented with hallucinogenic drugs.

3.7 percent of Lee County High School students and 5.3 percent of
middle school students sniffed inhalants.

Alcohol Is King Of Abuse

Alcohol is the most abused drug among Lee County students, followed
by tobacco in the form of cigarettes, according to the survey.

Marijuana topped the list of illegal drugs popular with students,
followed by hallucinogenic drugs and inhalants, according to the
study.

Club drugs like Ecstacy and the barbiturate GHB are also being
abused, Kronseder-Vogt said. However, they are too new a problem to
have been included in the survey.

Few students reported using heroin or cocaine.

Statewide, 62,146 students completed written surveys and 927 - or 1
percent - were from Lee County.

Peter D'Alessandro, 14, an eighth-grade student at Fort Myers Middle
School, said he's never tried drugs. "My parents would kill me," he
said.

Still, he's seen boys as young as 12 smoking marijuana.

Josh Krakow, 12, a Fort Myers Middle School seventh-grader, remembers
anti-drug programs in elementary school like the DARE program (Drug
Abuse Resistance Education) and times when sheriff's department
volunteers would come to his school and talk about the dangers of
drugs.

"Since I got to the middle school, teachers don't really talk about
drugs," he said.

Krakow said if he had questions he would ask his parents.

"We discussed drugs over the years," said his mother, Dawn Krakow.
"I'm not concerned about his making the right decision if it ever
came up."

Ashley Elverd, 16, a junior at Cypress Lake High School, said she's
never seen anyone with drugs at school, but plenty of people talk
about it.

"It goes on at parties on the weekends," Elverd said. "Marijuana and
Xanax, really any prescription pills kids can steal from their
parents, are what people are doing. Not the hard stuff though."

Although she's been offered drugs, she's never felt pressured to say yes.

"When you say no, nobody gets mad," she added.

Chloe Cool, 16, a junior at Cypress Lake High School, said it wasn't
unusual to see kids stumbling through the halls last year, high on
large doses of depressants.

"Teachers wouldn't do anything about it," she said. "They didn't
really know, they didn't see it and I think they didn't want to deal
with it."

Principals Targeted

Chuck Bell, director of student services for the Lee County School
District, said the problem is being addressed.

He pointed to the Child Watch tour scheduled for Thursday.

High school and middle schools principals will tour the Vince Smith
Center in Fort Myers, a residential drug abuse treatment center for
adolescents. At the center, children and parents who struggle with
substance abuse will share their stories.

"We want to make our principals as aware as possible to what is
happening in society," Bell said. "They need to know what to look for
and what agencies are available to help."

Bell said the battle against drugs must be fought by a combination of
schools, parents, student agencies and students.

"Keeping students sober is something no one agency such as school
system can do alone," Bell said.

Lee County's high rate of drug and alcohol use mostly can be
attributed to rapid growth and the state's close proximity to South
America, Kronseder-Vogt said.

Baby boomers and their children were among the fastest growing age
groups in Lee County over the past decade, based on Census 2000 date.
The population grew from 335,113 in 1990 to 440,888.

The county has long been viewed as a retirement haven, but the 2000
Census shows senior citizens no longer dominate Lehigh Acres, San
Carlos Park and Three Oaks. There, the average resident is
thirty-something - an age where many people are the parents of
school-age children.

"A large number of families are migrating here," Kronseder-Vogt said.
"With that migration comes problems. Families don't know where to
turn for help so they face the problem alone."

Drugs are a particular problem because of their infiltration through
Miami ports and then north on Interstate 75, she added.

Besides sponsoring Red Ribbon Week, the coalition organizes
activities during the year, Kronseder-Vogt said.

It also works with teachers, ministers and recreation staffs, the
people who deal with students every day.

The also offers substance abuse education classes and programs aimed
at students and parents.

Parents are key component in keeping children drug free, Kronseder-Vogt said.

"Good parenting is the most under utilized tool in battling drug
abuse," she said. "Schools, counselors and police officers cannot
have same influence as parents have."

Parents should talk to their children about the dangerous of drugs
early and often, Kronseder-Vogt said.

"Parents don't realize how powerful they are," she added. "They think
kids don't listen, but they do."

Valerie Bradley's mother, Sandra Bradley, takes that message to heart.

"My daughter knows that she can tell me anything," Sandra Bradley said.

Valerie Bradley chimed in, "It's true, I tell her everything."

"We talk about drugs," Sandra Bradley said. "If we see them on TV, I
point out which drugs are which and explain the dangers of them."

Sometimes, Valerie Bradley said, her mom seems over protective.

"I guess she's doing it for my own good," the teen said.

"I am," her mom responded. "I want you to know how dangerous drugs can be."