YOUR VIEWS

I have been a social worker and youth worker for over 40 years. I
have found that wars, such as the war on drugs, never work ... kids
who have been taught that A) they are valuable, B) know how to make
appropriate decisions, and C) use both skills in living their lives
and tend not to do things that will injure themselves.

Most of us take care of the things we value and that includes
ourselves. Teaching children to make decisions, appropriate to their
age and building skills ... is the best way to transfer power and
control from parent to child. I believe it is our job to teach them
how to use their personal power and self control to live their lives
after we are no longer there. This doesn't happen when they hit a
certain age, but develops with guidance and support over a long time.

When we have reasonable, valuable kids, governed by reasonable and
enforceable laws, we won't have a substance abuse problem ... we may
have people with problems, but that is a different issue. We keep
addressing the symptom, not the cause of the imbalance.

I realize this is a simplistic view, but I believe it's a good start
on another way of dealing with all the pain out there. The cost of
raising healthy, happy kids is just a fraction of what we are now
spending on not doing that.