BIRMINGHAM, BLOOMFIELD HILLS: DRUGS NOT A PROBLEM IN SCHOOLS, SAY TEENS

School Districts Respond To Detroit Mayor's Remarks

"At my school, there's definitely no heavy drug usage," said Jason
Tocco, a 17-year-old senior at Seaholm High School in Birmingham.
"The only thing that's a big deal is alcohol."

And even that, said Tocco, is "like regular college partying. Nothing
overboard or crazy."

Many students in the Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills school districts
agree with Tocco and say drug use is not a big problem in their
schools. And research shows those kids are at least somewhat correct.

Earlier this month, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick reopened old rifts
with the city's suburbs when he made off-the-cuff and largely
unsubstantiated remarks about drug use in Birmingham and Bloomfield
Hills schools.

"In Birmingham, in Bloomfield Hills and all these places they do more
meth, they do more ecstasy and they do more acid than all the schools
in the city of Detroit put together," said Kilpatrick.

Detroit's schools have not been surveyed about drug use in 10 years,
so accurate comparisons are not possible.

Still, though Steve Gaynor and John Hoeffler, the superintendents of
the Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham school districts respectively,
told the Free Press earlier this month that young people in their
district use drugs at rates that are on the lower end of the
spectrum, the available research does not support that conclusion.

Western Michigan sociology professor Thomas Van Valey conducts
surveys that track student drug use. According to a survey he
compiled earlier this year, 12th-grade students in the Birmingham and
Bloomfield Hills school districts reported using hard drugs such as
methamphetamine and ecstasy in the past month at rates roughly
comparable to national averages. Yet they reported using alcohol and
marijuana at higher rates.

In all, 54% of the students in the Birmingham-Bloomfield school
districts reported having had a drink of some kind in the last month;
29% reported smoking marijuana.

While none of the educators interviewed for this story said they
think drugs are a widespread or pervasive problem in the
Birmingham-Bloomfield area, they insisted that their districts are
remaining vigilant about preventing drug use.

"Any community who thinks they don't have kids who are using and
therefore they don't need to work on that, really, they're kidding
themselves," said Don Hillman, assistant superintendent for
instruction for the Bloomfield Hills school district. "We're working
really hard" at educating every student on the dangers of drugs, said Hillman.

At the forefront of the effort to eliminate drug use among teens in
the Birmingham-Bloomfield area is the Birmingham Bloomfield Community
Coalition. The coalition, which works closely with the two school
districts, hosts events throughout the school year, as well as panel
discussions with national experts and family activities geared at
keeping teens close to their parents and therefore away from drugs.

Earlier this month, the coalition was awarded a five-year, $500,000
matching grant by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The
grant was one of 176, worth a total of $17.1 million, that were
awarded to community groups across the country.

According to Lisa Machesky, the group's executive director, part of
the problem in the Birmingham-Bloomfield area is that some parents
still believe it's OK to let their children try drinking or smoking
pot with parental supervision.

"You still have parents that think it's no big deal for their kids to
use alcohol, to use marijuana. There's this 'It's a rite of passage,
all kids are going to do it' attitude," said Machesky. "Ninety-nine
percent of parents wouldn't do that, but I think there is a highly
visible group of parents that do."

Machesky noted Gisela Zetsche, wife of the soon-to-be head of
DaimlerChrysler AG, as one example.

In August, Zetsche pleaded no contest to a charge she served alcohol
to more than 20 minors at a loud, late-night party at her Bloomfield
Township home.

"We're trying to educate parents that this is illegal and unwise and
unhealthy," said Machesky. "And most parents get the message."

For their part, officials at the school districts said they are
working hard to eliminate the drug use that remains among students.

"We know that we've made some gains in the last few years," said
Steve Gaynor. But, "when it comes to eliminating substance abuse, we
never feel that we're doing well enough."

Indeed, according to the Western Michigan surveys, the Birmingham and
Bloomfield Hills school districts have seen a drop in drug use among
students over the past four years. The declines mirror national averages.

When Tocco is asked why he and his friends don't use drugs, he
provides a nuanced answer.

"It's a combination of factors. A lot of my friends, their parents
are very involved. There are family dinners that they have to go to,
their parents call them when they're out to see what they're doing --
so a lot of parental involvement -- and definitely individual choice."