TEACHING KIDS TO SAY 'NO'

Educators Look Beyond Schools To Keep Students Off Drugs

There are few surprises left these days for area educators dealing
with drug problems in schools.

Through the years, students have learned new ways of experimenting
with drugs and other substances, many of which can be found almost
anywhere, including over the counter or under the kitchen sink.

Nancy Cooper, drug counselor for Russellville city schools, said she
often leans on the judicial system and law enforcement to help her
get a better grasp on the things kids are using.

"They are my best source as far as what some of the new things are,"
Cooper said.

Tackling substance abuse has been an ongoing fight for years, and
many school districts look to the source for answers.

Randy Pettus, federal programs supervisor for Florence city schools,
said a survey given to middle school and high school students each
year helps counselors there learn more about the things kids are using.

"It's quite extensive," Pettus said of the survey. "It asks them if
they have used any type of drug or alcohol, how do their parents feel
about it and even how their friends feel about it. It covers a wide
array of topics, even violence.

"That gives us an idea of what we are looking at."

Join Together, a program of the Boston University School of Public
Health, conducted a 2006 survey of more than 3,500 kindergarten
through 12th-grade educators throughout the country. The survey's
goals were to learn how drug and alcohol education is actually
taught, to identify barriers teachers face in teaching prevention,
and identify the types of training, support and materials educators
need to improve the effectiveness of their alcohol and drug use
prevention efforts.

The program concluded that schools should not be relied on as the
primary element in prevention efforts as it pertains to implementing
drug and alcohol abuse awareness programs.

"Basically, educators think that more can be done," said Susan
Aromaa, senior research and communications manager for the Boston
University School of Public Health. "There are so many mandated
standards that it really limits their time and they are trying to
squeeze (substance abuse education) in."

Government mandates require schools to teach a substance abuse
education curriculum. In some schools, that means counselors teach
the material, while in others, health teachers fill the role.

Gale Satchel, director of federal programs for the Colbert County
schools system, said that having teachers prepared to talk with
students about making the right choices in their lives is a must.

"Through professional development and being proactive, we try to stay
on top of things," she said.

That is not always easy to do as students catch up with the latest
ways to abuse substances.

Valerie Thigpen, Lauderdale County schools prevention specialist,
said school officials recently learned of a new type of drug called
"cheese" that is being used in some parts of the state.

Cheese is a mixture of Tylenol PM and black tar heroin, she said.
Once the two are mixed, it resembles cheese.

School officials learn about many new types of substance abuse
through local coalitions made up of school personnel, law enforcement
agencies and other drug programs.

"You have so many more resources at your disposal when agencies
throughout the community come together like that," Thigpen said.
"Lately, there are more and more churches and other groups who are
stepping up and wanting to help with educating our kids."

Some school officials are even catching word of "hat" or "pharm"
parties being thrown. During these parties, kids take different pills
from their homes and place them in a bowl or hat. The students then
take turns reaching in and pulling out some type of pill, not knowing
what it is, and using it.

One of the only ways that school officials can help fight substance
abuse when it pertains to new and unique patterns of abuse is to
promote good decision making. The federal government allocates money
to each school system to use in substance abuse education.

The Franklin County Community Education program works with teens and
the community as a whole to promote good choices and to fight the use
of alcohol.

Franklin County Community Education Coordinator Susan Hargett said
alcohol is still the gateway that leads to the use of other
substances. Officials with Franklin County's program have conducted
town hall meetings and seminars to encourage parents to work with
their kids to educate them about the pitfalls of drug and alcohol use.

Hargett said one of the goals of the program has been to get local
authorities involved and let parents know that they are responsible
and could face penalties for allowing their kids to use alcohol.

"There are people out there who enable their kids by buying
cigarettes and alcohol for them," Hargett said. "We are doing a lot
to bring awareness to the fact that parents can be convicted for doing this."

Another problem facing educators is the easy access that students
have to prescription drugs in their homes.

"Prescription drugs should always be locked up," Hargett said. "We
worry about the rare things coming in, but it's the things that are
here, inside our homes, that kids are using. They don't start with
unique drugs, they start by using gateway drugs that are easy to get."

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Tips

Here are some recommendations from Join Together, a program of Boston
University School of Public Health, on how to better educate students
about drug and alcohol use. The information is based on a 2006 survey
of 3,500 kindergarten through 12th-grade educators across the country.

Schools should not be the only provider of general prevention
education. They can and should play a role as part of a comprehensive
community prevention strategy that should include parents and other
social institutions.

School systems should carefully reevaluate money and time spent on
outside programs and speakers and on unfocused printed materials.
These things are not likely to have a lasting impact on what students
know about alcohol and drugs or on their drinking or drug taking behavior.

Schools and communities should pursue opportunities to expand the use
of prevention programs and curricula that have been shown by research
to be effective in reducing alcohol and drug problems in all
extracurricular and after-school activities.

Teachers should have easy access to materials that use prevention
methods that have been shown by research to be effective and are
organized for presentation within the time constraints that actually
exist in most schools. When teachers and administrators have drug and
alcohol prevention education as an explicit part of their job, their
performance should be included in their formal evaluation.