KIDS SPEAK OUT, HOW PARENTS AND LEADERS CAN HELP CURB DRUG
USE

Despite increased marijuana use among teen-agers, there are steps
parents can take to help their teens turn away from this illegal drug.

Most of the Crowley school district students I recently interviewed
said parents and community leaders could curb drug use among teens.

I asked these Crowley teens: "What could parents and community leaders
do to stop teen-agers from smoking marijuana?"

Their solutions? Communicate to help them "fit in" and fight peer
pressure.

Although each teen had his or her own ideas, they repeatedly said
parents must talk to their teens -- without yelling.

Here are some of their responses:

"Parents, I think, should do whatever they can to keep the
communication alive between them. Because when the communication
fails, that's usually when bad things begin.

"For area leaders, I think they should make it easier for young people
to fit into the communities."

Michael Baca, 15 North Crowley High "They can talk and try to
communicate with them."

Eric Fuller, 18 Crowley High "I don't think anything can be done to
stop them. If anything could be done, it would probably be imposing a
mandatory death sentence for possession of any illegal drug, even if
the person is a juvenile. It might not stop it, but it sure would thin
out their ranks very quickly. Anything short of that will not do a
thing to stop the use of illegal drugs."

Sean Williams, 15 Crowley High "Be strict on rules, and have more
drug-dog searches. It's a teen's choice to [smoke marijuana]. Parents
cannot stop them unless they take their life away. So parents need to
rely on kids to make the right choices."

Phillip Hebson, 16 North Crowley High "The only thing parents and
teachers can do to stop the problem is continue to educate. Right now,
the drug education is ridiculous! Most of it is lies to scare children
away from doing drugs. Kids know this, too, and they don't respect it.
If it was a more honest program and the people educating talked about
their experiences, maybe that would help."

Josh McClatchy, 17 North Crowley High "Parents could say, `Stop!' and
yell and be buttheads about it. But the way they should handle it is
calmly. Your parents should be able to talk to you about it."

Bryan McKinney, 16 Crowley High One 16-year-old teen shared his
personal experience: "Weed is not the key to success; it's the key to
failure. Smoking weed is like riding down a hill with no brakes. It
took me going to the hospital on a drug overdose to realize that. I
would do anything so people my age would not have to go through what I
did."

Sharon Cox is editor of Class Acts, a magazine published for young
readers in the Tuesday Star-Telegram.

Checked-by: derek rea