MIXED MESSAGE

A group of concerned parents committed to the fight against drugs in
schools has come under attack, with claims the messages they are sending
out are having the opposite effect.

THE diaries, slightly grander than Reader's Digest-size, are about 180
pages long. Their front covers either feature a strip of colour or are
completely filled in with the school's colours. Over the top is emblazoned
the name of the school, its logo and motto.

Inside, apart from the first few pages of information which is individually
supplied by the subscribing school - items include uniform requirements,
homework tips and behaviour codes - the booklets are identical. They
present a novel anti-drugs message, via some 80 cartoons and accompanying
captions. The publishers, a group called the Queensland Association of
School Awareness, admit the concept is "in your face".

More than 50 Queensland schools have adopted the diaries this year,
predominantly government-run institutions such as Redlands High and
Loganlea High. Nudgee College and Carmel College are among a sprinkling of
private schools on board. That translates to about 20,000 students, for
whom a graphic warning about the risks of alcohol, tobacco and drug
consumption stares back at them daily. It is unavoidable. The diaries are
generally used for homework entries.

But despite the QASA's best intentions in an environment where drug use
among school students seems to be at record levels, they have come under
attack.

Pat Assheton founded and continues to co-ordinate DrugAid, an organisation
with a chance "to save and restore lives harmed by drug dependency". She
took one look at the book and her blood began to boil.

Dr Ross Young, a University of Queensland senior psychiatry lecturer who
specialises in the study of drug abuse, says some of the diary messages
could be considered ambiguous.

And Christine McConnell, project officer of the health issues section of
Education Queensland, says parents could introduce the publication if they
thought it was helpful but stressed that drug education should be
undertaken in a holistic approach. "We always say that drug education
should be done as an ongoing comprehensive thing by the classroom teacher .
. . we would be apprehensive about messages about drugs when they are put
in front of the kids everyday," she said.

Assheton, 48, knows a great deal about illicit drugs. On Valentine's Day
last year, her 26-year-old son Guy Tremain died from a heroin overdose.

She says the repeated references to drug abuse, no matter how
well-intentioned, amount to affirmations. She has no doubt the messages
would act subliminally to encourage some kids to try drugs.

"It's sowing seeds, for God's sake." she barks. "What it's actually doing
is programming drugs, like a trigger. This is a trigger book."

Assheton cites random examples from the diary . . .

One side of each double page is ruled off and divided into days for a
particular school week. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday grids fall on some of
these pages; Thursday, Friday and another space for remarks and parent and
teacher signatures occupy the remainder. On the facing pages, hip sketches
of outer-worldly or animal characters in "homeboy" dress appear in support
of the short, printed warnings overhead.

Assheton examines one of the pages that address cannabis (the bottom of
each anti-drug page carries a sponsor's name in a display box - many are
well-known). The caption, above an alien-type with rolling eyeballs
accompanied by the lightbulb metaphor for inspiration, reads: "When
affected by cannabis, you may feel as though you've had profound insights.
Oh yeah!"

Assheton says it doesn't matter that the message is the first in a sequence
on cannabis. Three pages on, the caption is: "Cannabis affects your memory
and your ability to think logically. You may loose (sic) track of what you
were saying or thinking."

"A kid's not going to flick ahead those few days, is he?" she says. "He's
just going to read that first message and think. 'I want some (cannabis).
I've never smoked cannabis before but I'm going to go out and get myself
some now'."

Assheton reads another of the captions: "Every morning, I'd manage one
cigarette before catching the bus to school, and in the afternoon and night
I'd have another four." (Again, part of a sequence, leading to a redeeming
message about the ill-effects of smoking -but not until one diary week later).

"What they've given here is an affirmation," she says. "The whole diary is
basically setting affirmations off in kids' brains."

Assheton's final selection is:

"Dealers think schoolies are easy prey." She says this exemplifies the
extent to which the publishers fail to understand how today's students
think and interpret.

"What jumps out at me when I read that is, 'Hey, we can really make some
easy money. They're easy prey. We'll start selling at school'," says Assheton.

"I deal with kids every day of the week and they're so clever. They'd look
at something like that with their mate and think, 'You've got brains, I've
got brains. Let's get entrepreneurial here'. This diary would insult their
intelligence. Not only is it totally unrealistic - it's dangerous."

QASA secretary Allan Stein is shocked by the notion. "The guys and the
girls identify with these cartoons," Stein says. "We are not trying to ram
the message down their throats but bring It to them in a way they will
understand."

He says the association is a non-profit, voluntary organisation "taking
responsibility for educating our youth in the area of substance abuse". It
began five years ago with a small group of concerned parents who were
acquaintances. Some had experienced the devastation of family members
succumbing to drug addiction. "We come from all sorts of backgrounds -
advertising agents, publishers and computer experts." Stein says, "We just
wanted to see if we could do something about drugs in schools."

The diaries are the cornerstone of the QASA's work. In 1995, 16 schools
agreed to take them. The following year it was 26 schools, then 33 in 1997
before this year's half-century. Stein says the figures include some
regional primary schools, where they are an adjunct to a subscribing
secondary school. For junior schools, the diaries are modified.

Stein says he is amazed to hear that the diaries could be seen as
desensitising students to the spectre of drugs.

He says the messages are drawn from a wide range of apparently generic
sources - "pamphlets, literature, statistics" -and the illustrations are
contributed by a former, Brisbane artist in her 20s, now living in Melbourne.

"We are always out seeing principals and deputy principals and basically
they think it's a great idea. And we've spoken to a tremendous amount of
the kids. While you'll always get the ones who say. 'Hey, what's all this.
It's a load of crap', they are few and far between. Most of them can relate
to it."

"To my knowledge, we have never been accused of encouraging drugs. I find
that most upsetting."

Two senior teachers from separate schools which receive the diaries say
they have not heard a whisper of negativity from parents or pupils.

"Teachers sometimes discuss the messages that are there with the kids,"
according to one. "I think it sends a positive message. We've found the
books to be very good."

University of Queensland's Dr Young is concerned by messages put forward in
the diaries. "While it may not cause anybody to runoff and use cannabis, it
may reinforce beliefs that adolescents have that could be risky in terms of
looking at drug use as more attractive." he says.

Young says the diary might do better not to mention drugs at all. Latest
research suggests that education about drugs is, of itself, not enough.

"The current evidence says that a lot of the skills we need to be looking
at aren't really related to drug use at all," Young says. "They're the kind
of skills that produce a healthy adolescent, someone who feels comfortable
interacting with others, someone who can handle stress in their life more
effectively than they could before. Life-coping skills."

QASA president Charles Wheeler says his representatives regularly meet
school P&C committees and teaching staff. "We encourage people to be
critical," he says, "But 99.9 percent of the time, everybody jumps up and
claps."

However, Wheeler concedes the QASA - whose other services include a student
helpline attended by a qualified counsellor and the delivery to schools of
two anti-drugs speakers who are reformed heroin addicts - is still learning.

He says next years diaries will be quite different. "We're aware of what
the thinking is now and this is why we're looking to create a positive
lifestyle diary that is anti-drug but also promotes optimism in students,"
Wheeler says.

Checked-by: Pat Dolan