OUR STUDENTS NEED ACTIVISTS, NOT OSTRICHES

It's official; I spend too much time working with adults. I made that
realization this week when something - call it fate or the News
Messenger's assignment board - brought me in contact with students at
four local schools.

The plan was to visit and gather information for our story on student
leadership. With Election Day coming up, I was to take a closer look
at how the democratic process is applied on campus.

But I learned a heckuva lot more.

You see, this past week students in the Western Placer Unified School
District celebrated Red Ribbon Week, five days dedicated to the
concept of living drug free.

I had heard about the event previously, but it wasn't until I arrived
at Glen Edwards Middle School that I received a succinct definition
courtesy of Heather Phelps, a student in Lorie Wrightman's leadership
class. Later, Red Ribbon Week came up again as I chatted with Mason
Humes, president of the Student Council at Foskett Ranch Elementary School.

Something was abundantly clear: Our kids are open to the message that
drugs damage or kill those who abuse them, those close to abusers and
many of the fine men and women trying to stop the abuse.

But still a question lingered. How good of a job are we, as adults,
doing of delivering the anti-drug message?

I think the biggest difference between adults and kids is that we
older folks, and note that I'm including myself here, tend to favor
what I call the ostrich pose. We have our heads in the sand when it
comes to some of the biggest issues in life, choosing instead to
waste our time worrying about what's in the driveway, what's in the
bank and what's on our personal agendas.

We look at stuff such as Red Ribbon Week and dub it as "nice" or
"good work," but we choose not to really get involved.

Instead, we take about 10 seconds to express our opinion on the
schools' efforts and move on.

But who do we think we're kidding?

No school system is equipped to deal with the daunting task of
fighting drugs alone, and it certainly cannot be done in one week, no
matter how well marketed and well promoted. Those efforts are a nice
start, but little more. Why? Because with students and a handful of
well-intentioned teachers leading the way, there is a danger Red
Ribbon Week will become little more than a series of themed dress-up
days (i.e. Put a Cap on Drugs).

So what to do? Certainly not what several Twelve Bridges Middle
School parents did when they posted diatribes at
http://www.mytwelvebridges.com regarding that school's approach to
Red Ribbon Week.

Tell me, what good does that do? Did Twelve Bridges do everything
right? My guess is probably not. And guess what? Probably no other
school in the country did either. Neither did GEMS, Foskett Ranch,
First Street Elementary nor Lincoln High School. But I visited all
those schools this week and I can tell you their kids at least had a
clue, which is more than I can say for most parents.

Drug education begins at home. And it must continue in the community
with the help of pastors, police officers, politicians, coaches,
neighbors and even newspaper people. Of course the schools have a
place in the process too. But it's a shame when we make their place an island.

One neighbor working to ensure that isn't the case is Phillip Dudley,
general secretary of our local branch of Narcotics Anonymous. I took
time for lunch with Phil this week because, well, like me, he only
acts like an adult 60 percent of the time. But he's deadly serious
about his work to stop the proliferation of drugs and get meaningful
help to those devastated by addiction.

To this end, he's constantly thinking about new ways to help:
meetings, school assemblies, recreational activities ... You name it,
Phil will try it.

Phil tells me he's already found some great partners, namely the
First Baptist and Emmaus churches here in Lincoln. But he needs many more.

I think it's high time some of us ditch the ostrich pose; there's too
much to do and too little time.