KEEPING A WATCHFUL EYE SHOULDN'T BE THAT DIFFICULT

Since You Asked...

Teenagers are being faced with drugs in schools more often in recent years,
according to a Columbia University annual survey.

Twenty-eight per cent of middle-school students, or those in Grades 6 to 8,
reported that drugs are used, kept or sold at their schools. That
represents a jump of 47 per cent from 2002.

The numbers from high schoolers are even more disappointing with the number
rising by 41 per cent. Sixty-two per cent of high schoolers are vividly
aware of drugs in their school.

Personally, having gone to school in Stratford from Grade 7 up until the
end of high school, I first really came to the realization that drugs were
in my school when I was in Grade 11 and a couple friends of mine came to
Math class high.

Proudly, I can say that I never attended a Math class high (it was
confusing enough as it was) or any other class for that matter.

Luckily though, I went to high school at a time when drugs were still
fairly taboo and kept very much in the shadows. Now, thanks to music,
movies and television, drugs are more mainstream than ever.

I even noticed a beer commercial the other day that used music in the
background from a group named Cypress Hill, who were a big "pot band" in
the '90s and coined terms like "a fat dose of the good weed" and had songs
titled "Hits from the Bong" and "I Wanna Get High."

One encouraging point that out of the Columbia survey is that kids who
confide in their parents are at a much lower risk of drug abuse, than teens
who do not.

But this also means that parents need to be extremely pro-active in their
children's lives.

And they cannot base all their assumptions on the world when they were 15.
The world has changed a lot even since I was 15 and that was only 13 years ago.

Simply saying "Don't do it, it's bad," or "I'll kick your butt out of this
house if I catch you doing dope," won't cut it.

In fact, it could very well make the idea more appealing to teens, who are
always looking for an outlet to be rebellious.

When dealing with drugs and teenagers, the best bet is to approach those
who deal with it on a daily basis. Ask a police officer, a school guidance
counsellor or a public health unit official for advice and/or related
literature.

Some parents might be embarrassed to admit to strangers that they are
worried their children could be involved in drugs, but the alternatives are
much, much worse.

On a similar note, the study also discovered that teens who watch three or
more R-rated movies in a month (43 per cent) are more likely to smoke or
try alcohol.

There is a reason why there are age limits or warnings placed on movies,
and even video games and music.

Parents again need to be vigilant and more careful with what they allow
their kids to watch, listen to and play.

The problem isn't so much the artists or companies who produce this
material, it's the parents who allow their children to own or view this
adult-intended material.