People and Places:

DEBORAH BROWN HELPS KIDS MAKE GOOD DECISIONS

TAUNTON -- At one time in her career, Deborah E. Brown planned to join the FBI.

But an internship working with troubled youths, Brown decided helping
kids was her dream job.

For the past 17 years, Brown has been teaching Taunton students about
making the right decisions when it comes to drugs, violence and other
high-risk behaviors. She is coordinator of the schools' Safe & Drug
Free program.

"Deb has had an impact on students. She is one part of our Access
Center and she is valuable," Taunton High School Headmaster Matthew
Mattos said.

Brown divides her time between working at Taunton High School and
working in the elementary schools as part of the staff at the Taunton
High Access Center.

The center provides support services for Taunton High students.
Brown's primary job is to teach drug- and violence-prevention programs.

She has seen a troubling rise in violence among females and in youths
using prescription drugs to get high.

"It's very troubling," said Brown, 49, of Lakeville.

"Alcohol is still the number one drug that is abused, but the misuse
and abuse of prescription medications is very scary," she said.

Many youths who abuse prescription drugs pick up the behavior because
their parents use various pain medications and anti-depressants,
often self-medicating, she said.

Not only do these students have access to prescription drugs at home,
but Brown said some buy them on the Internet using credit cards

The newest and youngest generation of heroin addicts can be linked in
many cases to previous abuse of prescription drugs.

"Their parents are self-medicating, they start-self medicating and it
leads to other things," Brown said.

Brown is involved in several programs:

*On Thursday afternoons, she is at the high school with the Insight
Group, which supports students with substance-abuse recovery issues.

*Brown also is co-advisor to the high school's Gay and Straight
Alliance, which has about 14 members who meet weekly.

*She is adviser to Students Against Destructive Decisions, which
recently won a $1,400 grant to conduct smoking prevention programs.
SADD also received a grant to allow student-peer leaders at the
middle school to talk about violence prevention, seatbelt safety,
Internet safety and making healthy decisions.

*Brown said student-peer leaders are also involved in preventing
teen-dating violence through the Mentors In Violence Prevention, a
group she oversees.

*At the elementary schools, one of the programs she teaches is Open
Circle, a discussion group where students sit in a circle to talk
about their emotions, anger, and problem-solving.

"It provides them with a foundation,"' Brown said.

The group helps teach students empathy, anger management and when to
go to an adult to report a problem or when to handle it themselves,
she said. Parents also play a role in the open-circle process.

Brown graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a
undergraduate degree in criminal justice.

She has a master's degree in social work from Rhode Island College
and worked for nine years with Comcare, assisting troubled youths and
their families, some of whom were involved with Department of Youth
Services and Department of Social Services.

Brown used to work full-time at Taunton High, but her job was
recently revised so she is spending more time in elementary schools.

She is also a member of Taunton's Safe Neighborhood Initiative, a
crime prevention program that involves a coalition of law
enforcement, social service agencies, schools and the courts.