THE KIDS AREN'T THE PROBLEM. WE ARE.

Earlier this month, staff at Melbourne Citymission's western regional
headquarters suffered through a tragic day - heroin overdoses in a lane
near their office produced two deaths and two overdoses in a few short
hours.

I visited the staff soon after and saw more young people shooting up... and
a more moving tragedy was unfolding.

Those shooting up and those waiting their turn to "chase the dragon" looked
to be teenagers - and with them were their younger brothers and sisters,
probably aged 10 or 12. They weren't using, but what were they waiting for?

It raised the question I've been asking for some months: Why do some young
people turn to drugs and other dangerous behavior when their peers raised
in exactly the same environment resist the addictive dangerous ways?

We hear the excuses about abuse, poverty, lack of respect for sexuality,
failure at school. But the reality is many young people have been abused at
home, live in poverty, and yet don't turn to drugs. They are able to handle
it.

One group feels isolated, rejected and lonely while the others feel part of
the community. The latter group can develop relationships and build the
self-esteem that gives them the armor to survive. The complexity of modern,
urbanised living should not be trivialised or ignored. But neither should
we see the emerging drug crisis as just a symptom of the times.

Perhaps in the answer to this question lies the solution to the heroin
problem - but this issue questions the values of the rest of the community,
and it's an uncomfortable debate. It shifts the focus from the victims to
the rest of us. If the community reaches out to those with low self-esteem
who are developing anti-social behavior, if we trust and encourage them to
become part of the wider community, they can build resources to resist the
addictions which now confront them - heroin, alcohol, gambling, smokes.

We must address the causes of depression, homelessness, family breakdown,
poor self-image, lifestyle and relationship problems. We must challenge the
emphasis on "individualism" and rediscover the importance of relationships
in developing and nurturing healthy people.

It requires the recognition that a healthy, sustainable community is built
on values of honesty, sharing and trust. It challenges the over-emphasis on
competition, and restores the belief in the value of everyone's
contribution to the common good.

These values are best nurtured in a caring and supportive community.
Schools, churches and community organisations have a significant role to
play. It is often possible to recognise the "at-risk" behavior of those who
are headed for disaster.

In a caring community, everyone would reach out and help at-risk
individuals, because it strengthens our society.

The drug problem can only be fully addressed when "we", not "them", take
stock of our own lives, values and priorities. As parents, politicians,
teachers and carers, we all have a responsibility to decide what sort of
society we want for our children and grandchildren.

Blaming the victim, punishing the addict, is a soft response to a problem
that is ours. If we want to save the brothers and sisters, we all have to
show them we care.

Canon Ray Cleary is chief executive officer of Melbourne Citymission.
E-mail:rcleary@mcm.org.au