PARENTS NEED TO PAY ATTENTION; CHILDREN CLAIM THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT THE BIG
ISSUES

DOVER -- Although not unveiled officially, the Teen Assessment Program
survey results send a clear message to parents: pay attention.

"Many local youth felt they had not had a good talk with their mothers
of fathers in the past year about whether or not it is OK to have sex,
birth control, AIDS and other STDs, the risks of drinking and using
drugs, and personal problems," according to a draft copy of the TAP
survey's executive summary obtained by Foster's Daily Democrat.

One reason may be a shift in demographics. More often than not, both
parents work, which means many teens are home alone after school.

In fact, according to the TAP survey, 57 percent of teens say they
spend more time at home alone than with their parents or adults.

Officials say parental participation is critical to resolving the
problems underlined in the TAP survey.

"The community has to be involved," said Dover Superintendent Armand
LaSelva.

LaSelva said by agreeing to host the TAP survey, the middle and high
schools were only serving as a conduit for information about the
community's needs. The survey was administered by the University of
New Hampshire Cooperative Extension on behalf of the Dover Drug Free
Coalition, which includes school, city and police officials.

School Board member Nick Skaltsis agreed, saying the problem areas
highlighted in the TAP survey are not the School District's alone to
solve, and should instead alert parents.

"A lot of the activities (the teens) say they are participating in are
life-threatening," Skaltsis said. "Maybe there are too many parents
who are unaware that these activities are a wake-up call. A lot of the
parents are AWOL. The district can't be a substitute parent."

Dover police Capt. Dana Mitchell said the TAP survey should alert
parents to the needs of their children, but is worried that releasing
the figures prematurely will diminish the impact.

"Our biggest fear is that the results will come out in a haphazard way
that won't galvanize the community into action," Mitchell said. "The
results are going to show that the community needs to do something.
There's things to worry about with our kids."

Mitchell said the decision to withhold the results until May 17, when
an informational meeting is scheduled at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital,
was a mutual one made by the Dover Drug Free Coalition.

Mitchell explained the Police Department is only one segment of the
coalition, and to release the results without an opportunity for the
entire coalition to review them compromises over a year of work.

"That kind of collaboration doesn't move fast," he said. Mitchell also
points out that the results are a component of a long-term process,
which includes more meetings, newsletters to parents and community
brainstorming about causes and solutions.

The delay, however, has upset some School Board members, including
Chairman Marc Vaillancourt.

"I don='t know why they decided to sit on it for a while," he said.
Vaillancourt said the results should be released as soon as possible
to help prepare solutions, which need community input. "It's a
community problem."

School Board member Kevin Quigley agrees.

"I don't think it should be delayed," Quigley said. "The public should
know. It's been long enough."

Quigley said the School District allowed the survey to be administered
by UNH, funded with a police department grant, to gauge problem areas.

However, School Board member Raymond Proulx said he understands why
officials are waiting to release the results.

"I suspect the reason for that is when they have results like that,
unless someone knows what they're talking about, these results could
mean something different," Proulx said. "What do these results really
mean?"