SAM TECH LOOKING AT HOW TO DEAL WITH YOUTH DRUG USE

It cannot be denied that drug issues exist in secondary schools,
locally and across North America.

But Samuel Robertson Technical secondary Principal Mike Keenan can't
stress enough that while there is such an issue at his school, it is
not a huge one.

"Anybody who says it's not an issue is lying or not in the know," he
said. "It's a small percentage, but it's there."

Controversy was sparked at SRT's Parent Advisory Council meeting
Monday night following an e-mail circulated by the school's recently
resigned PAC chair. The email painted a picture of a drug culture
epidemic at the school.

The former chair, who asked to remain anonymous, demanded to know what
was being done to address drug issues in schools after he found
makeshift drug paraphernalia in Albion Park, near the school. He took
photos of the items and brought what appeared to be a device for drug
consumption rendered from a Coke bottle to the PAC meeting.

The former PAC chair proposed such solutions as a zero-tolerance
policy that would see students face expulsion for being caught with
drugs, and other measures.

Unsatisfied with answers, he left the meeting early. Shortly after,
the News was asked to leave the meeting due to a miscommunication
regarding privacy issues.

The former PAC chair could not be reached the following day for
comment by deadline.

Shelley Muir, now the PAC chair for SRT, said the meeting ended
positively.

"Our PAC group wants to take an informative and proactive approach to
this," she said.

"I don't think there's a huge issue at hour school, [however] these
problems are at every school."

Keenan said he and parents had a productive discussion. "We can
acknowledge that, yes, there are drugs in all schools. Every school in
the district has drug issues, if not every high school in the province."

"In the fall, we received some photos from a parent of three male
students that gave every indication that they were smoking marijuana
off of school property," Keenan said.

Those students were identified and dealt with accordingly, he
added.

At the meeting, Keenan said he and parents discussed bringing in more
presentations from groups such as the RCMP to deter high school
students from becoming involved with drugs.

Presentations are also made for parents.

"Any time you can bring someone in to educate parents on drug use and
youth, it should be done," Keenan said.

For those who are already using, "that's why we need to take advantage
of counselling support that's out there," Keenan said.

The school uses Alouette Addictions support personnel and there are
drug and alcohol counsellors employed by the local school district. He
said parents sometimes call asking for referrals for counselling to
help their children.

Keenan has brought his experiences as principal at several high
schools to his approach with SRT. He also noted the district has a
social responsibility facilitator, a new position.

"We have recognized that we really want to take this issue on and
lower the incidence of drug use in schools," said board chair Cheryl
Ashlie.

The board plans to bring in its social responsibility facilitator
Maureen Mason to speak.

"Her work is around prevention, and that is her whole focus, and
supporting teachers in their resources in the classroom," Ashlie said.

Keenan said SRT, like all local high schools, is working towards
helping its kids. Ultimately, he said, it comes to kids making good
choices.