TEENAGERS TELL PARENTS HOW TO FIGHT SUBSTANCE ABUSE VIA VIDEOTAPE

The video started with a simple idea.

Oakland High School graduate Curtis McCain wanted to see his friend
Evan Taylor get hit in the face.

McCain, J.B. Botwinick, a junior at Oakland High School, and four of
their friends were making a short film for the third annual Truth,
Lies & Videotapes Public Service Announcement Challenge. The group
represented Oakland High School, one of 12 high schools and youth
organizations that submitted videos for the contest Thursday night.
The short films will be shown on KPIC-TV throughout the year.

Taylor did get hit in the face by Buddy Paprock, a Roseburg High
graduate who played a superhero in the film. Paprock, in a black suit,
shades and yellow gloves, does martial arts on a group of guys
offering drugs to seventh-grader Jordan Botwinick.

"Get real. Save yourself," the film ended, bringing laughs and
applause from the crowd at Roseburg High School's Rose Theatre.

Their efforts earned them the Best "Be a Real Hero" award at the
contest. The theme of the event was "What Adults Should Know About
Drugs."

J.B. and Jordan have a ready answer for their mother, Andrea
Botwinick, when she asks them where they are and what they are doing.

"Yes, Mom, you've already asked us, and we've already told you," they
tell her.

She asks where they're going, and she calls them on their cell phones
often.

"She does a really good job," J.B. said. "Her famous term is, 'I trust
you. I just don't trust you to be in the right situation.'"

Andrea stays involved in her sons' lives, and their friends are
welcome at her house, she said.

J.B. and McCain have started their own film company, Cheap
Productions.

Andrea's not thrilled with the name, but she's glad they're doing
something positive. "I'd rather see them doing film and all that than
going out and doing graffiti on the walls," she said.

Juancarlos Amaya, a junior from Glendale High School, thinks parents
need to pay more attention to their teenagers.

"I think generally they don't know because they don't really care," he
said. Teenagers may say their parents are bugging them, but parents
shouldn't give up.

"Just talk to the kids," he said. "Make phone calls. Make sure that
they are going the right way."

Nate Sjogren, a junior at Roseburg High School, worked on the Healthy
Teens Coalition Video, which showed how underage drinking can lead to
pregnancy and harder drugs. His grandmother, Glaphre Braswell, isn't
worried about her grandson, but she said life has changed since she
raised her children.

"They weren't close to drugs at all," Braswell said. "We heard about
it, but it wasn't out in the open as much."

Kaleen Deatherage of Oregon Partnership brought home the need for
parents to pay attention to their children.

No one is surprised to hear that methamphetamine addiction is a
problem, she said. But people are surprised when they learn that for
the first time, more girls than boys in Oregon are drinking.

And Deatherage has seen a common thread among recovering meth addicts
she's talked with.

"They began with alcohol. They began with marijuana. They began with
tobacco," she said.

When she asks how their drug use could have been prevented, recovering
addicts usually say having their parents or another adult question
them and take time to encourage them might have helped.

"We need to let parents know that their kids are listening," she
said.

The students tried to get that message across in their
videos.

Elkton High School's group encouraged parents to "know how far your
child is willing to go," and one of Phoenix School's videos showed
what can happen if children are left to their own devices.

South Umpqua High School's message was clear. Parents should talk to
their children while they're young. Students from Canyonville
Elementary School spoke directly to their parents in the South Umpqua
video.

"I will listen," the children said. "All you need to do is talk to
me."'

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TRUTH, LIES & VIDEOTAPES

Participating schools were given Dougie Awards for their public
service announcements fighting teenage use of alcohol, tobacco and
other drugs. The following is a list of awards:

Best Use of Negative Imagery -- Roseburg High School

Best Animated Tragedy -- Sutherlin High School

Best Depiction of Breaking the Myths -- Canyonville Christian Academy

Best Inhalant Awareness Message -- Camas Valley High School

Best Message to Parents -- Elkton High School

Best Wake-up Call to Parents --Phoenix School

Best Depiction of Drug's Unintended Consequences -- Healthy Teens Coalition

Best "Ignorance Is Not Bliss" -- Douglas High School

Best "In the Nick of Time" -- Glide High School

Best "Your Life ... Your Choice" -- Glendale High School

Best "Be a Real Hero" -- Oakland High School

Best Early Prevention Message -- South Umpqua High School

To see youth filmmakers and "dead celebrities" walk the red carpet at
the "Truth, Lies & Videotapes" premiere night, see the Multimedia
Features box above..