SOME PARENTS QUESTION SCHOOLS' ROLE IN DRUG EDUCATION

Red Ribbon Week conjures up positive images of grinning students bedecked
with pins, T-shirts and slogans exalting the youngsters' pledge to be
drug-free.

Yet on the opposite end of Tony Arangio's phone line Tuesday morning, a
parent's voice was twisting with anger.

"My son is in the first grade, and he shouldn't know anything about drugs,"
the parent told Arangio, coordinator of Safe and Drug Free Schools for
Arlington school district.

The educator's response:

"It's just a red ribbon. Throw it away. Don't wear it. Schools are very
accommodating. If you say, `I don't want my kid to wear it,' we don't do it."

In the past decade, as schools have been asked to shoulder the difficult
task of delivering the anti-drug message to the nation's youths, educators
have spoken of parents primarily as partners in the efforts. But as the
lessons are being broadened and woven into the curriculum from English to
social studies to math, many parents are being seen in a new role:

The opposition.

Some parents fear that the emphasis on drug education convinces their
children that everyone, indeed, uses drugs. Some school methods, they say,
also intrude on family and student privacy. And drug classes may just be
graduating educated drug consumers, the critics say.

The critics can be overruled. Many parents say they want their children to
be equipped with as much information about drugs as possible, so they
appreciate it when schools dispense it.

"Knowledge is the best weapon," said Colleen Newton, a mother of two
students at Keller-Harvel Elementary who supports the school's intervention
efforts.

And the multiple heroin-related deaths in North Texas have prompted parents
to begin clamoring for improved and extensive drug education in the
schools. In Northeast Tarrant County, school districts have responded with
forums and summits to explain to the public the dangers of drug use and
what signs to watch for if parents suspect that their child is on drugs.

On the flip side, some parents say they have become dumbstruck when their
8-, 9- and 10-year-old children have recited to them a list of household
cleaners that can be inhaled, or the common traits of drug pushers. The
information can have the opposite effect that schools intend, the parents say.

"It's creating a Lord of the Flies mentality," said Jeanne Donovan, a Fort
Worth parent of two Crowley students. "I feel it's my responsibility to
talk to my child about those kinds of issues."

In Grapevine-Colleyville school district this spring, parents and school
officials collided over an effort to require drug testing of students
involved in extracurricular activities, and the idea eventually was
scrapped. Even those who supported the testing had mixed emotions about
whether it would intrude on students' rights.

"I'm an American, so I believe in people's constitutional rights -- but for
my children, I want to know" if they're using, said Kim Glavan, a Grapevine
parent of four.

In some school districts, parents have filed lawsuits to block student
surveys and other activities used in drug prevention.

In San Antonio, three parents filed a lawsuit concerning a survey in which
high school students were asked a series of questions about their family
relationships, and were offered a "counseling session" on managing anger,
coping with stress, study skills and other topics. The parents said that
the district failed to notify them before students were given the survey,
and that their children were "psychologically examined."

According to the state education code, a parent must be notified if his or
her child is to receive psychological examinations, tests or treatments.

"It's wrong to examine kids and ask them personally invasive questions,"
said Tom Stack, an attorney with the Texas Justice Foundation, which is
representing the parents.

Despite the backlash from some parents, most schools are convinced that
they must play an important role in educating students about drugs. Drug
education, school leaders say, is part of their mission to nurture
children, both intellectually and emotionally.

"So many parents don't spend that much time with their kids or, when they
do, it's not a high priority," said Linda Cegiel, who coordinates drug
prevention programs for the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school district.

To make up for that loss, some schools are embracing programs designed to
promote clean living by patching up "problem" areas in students' lives. The
goal is to help youngsters build a resistance to drugs, as well as to other
negative influences.

In Southlake, Carroll schools have joined with parents and city leaders on
the Joint Drug and Alcohol Awareness Committee to come up with a program
supported by the community. The committee is promoting the Teen Leadership
class at Carroll High School as a must-take course for helping students
avoid destructive decisions.

During each class, students expound on topics vital to them, such as future
jobs, friendships and college. They keep a daily journal, which is graded
by their teacher, Amy Gallagher. She won't read a page that is folded over
- -- a signal that the information is private.

But most often, students are extremely candid with their upbeat and
youthful teacher, who has about 120 teen leaders in her class every week.

"I have a lot of kids say, `Can I sit in your room? Can we talk?' " she
said. "I learn so much from them because they're so willing to share with
me. They're almost too open sometimes and I tell them, `Are you sure you
want to tell me all this?' "

Teen Leadership also steers students to be introspective and to think
seriously about their lives, school officials say.

Newton, who talked to her daughter at age 3 about LSD tattoos, wants to
raise her to feel comfortable to share life's most troubling matters.
Whatever her daughter learns in school, Newton said, she will hear at home,
too.

"If my child gets on drugs, I want her to know when she reached a breaking
point that the first person she could turn to is me," Newton said.

Checked-by: Pat Dolan