DRUG TEST KITS FOR PARENTS

Screening An Option For Students' Parents

Winnisquam Regional Middle School will give home drug-testing kits to
parents at an open house this month. Distribution of the kits, donated
by an Arizona nonprofit called NotMYKid, will follow a slide show
advising parents on how to talk to their kids about drugs, according
to Dave Tryon, the district's "chemical-free adviser."

Also on the agenda for the back-to-school open house are a spaghetti
supper and parent-teacher meetings.

Tryon said he wasn't sure about the drug tests, but he liked that the
kits are optional. He said the kits can be used as tools for parents
to talk to their kids about drugs - and as an excuse for kids who
don't want to try drugs.

"The piece that got me: The student can say, 'I can't because, you
know, my family drug tests at home,'" Tryon said. "That gives the
child a way out. And anytime you can give a child a way out of doing
something risky, I can't see something wrong with that."

Winnisquam Superintendent Tammy Davis uses a report card analogy:
Parents trust their kids when they say things are going well at
school, but they still look at their report cards.

"Drug testing can be thought of as a report card that shows how
successful a child has been in saying 'no' to drugs," said Davis, who
just took the helm of the district made up of Tilton, Northfield and
Sanbornton. Tryon said he got the idea when he was surfing the web
one night when he stumbled upon the NotMYKid website and information
about its Project 7th Grade initiative, which provides drug tests to
schools.

According to its website, Project 7th Grade targets kids at the age
when many first try drugs, and it runs on a motto of "trust but
verify." Project 7th Grade is a joint initiative by NotMYKid and First
Check, the company that produces the home drug kits. A spokesperson
for Project 7th Grade did not return a call yesterday.

After scoping out NotMYKid and talking to officials in school
districts that had tried the kits, Tryon presented the idea to the
school board at this month's meeting and got the green light.
Winnisquam is the first school district in the Northeast to use
Project Seventh Grade, Tryon said.

Student surveys show that many first try drugs and alcohol at a young
age. In a 2005 survey of Winnisquam high schoolers, 29 percent said
they had first tried alcohol before the age of 12. Thirteen percent
had tried marijuana by that age, according to the survey.

"I think people tend to think it (substance abuse) only starts in high
school. And, unfortunately, it starts on an elementary level," said
Jack Tiano, Winnisquam's special education administrator.

Winnisquam will receive approximately 500 kits, more than enough for
its middle school population of roughly 420 students, Tryon said.
Similar kits are sold in drug stores for about $40 apiece.

The test uses a urine sample and takes about five minutes. In the case
of a positive result, a parent has the option of sending the kit away
to a lab for a free confirmation, Tryon said.