DRUG-FREE ZONES NOT THE ANSWER

Drug-free zones are not the answer to drug-free schools, says J.L.
Crowe principal Doug Hickey. Instead, he recommends intervention and
counselling as the best means to address a problem highly reflective
of community values in general.

The DFZ isn't a new concept at Crowe, in fact, there are a number of
signs around the perimeter of the Trail secondary school indicating
the school is drug free.

However, the signs have been up for six or seven years, Hickey said,
and they've become increasingly impotent.

"Lately I would say it's not successful. I'm not happy with the drug
use of our kids and I tell our kids that all the time," he said. "We
encourage the drug-free zone and it's something we try to support the
best we can, but we're limited by what we can do."

Hickey presented the 2004-05 school plan for J.L. Crowe during
Monday's School District No. 20 open board meeting in Trail. Both
Hickey and trustees expressed concern regarding the issue of drug use,
and its growing popularity among local youth.

Practices the school employs to combat drug use include reprimanding
youth and phoning parents. If kids are caught dealing drugs police are
contacted.

But Hickey said the problem is more complicated than what the school
can handle alone.

"It's a community problem," he said. "We reflect the community in many
ways."

Hickey said at Crowe staff work hard to educate kids about the
ill-effects of drug use, but the fact some use drugs, doesn't
necessarily mean they're bad.

"I love those kids, but their decision-making is poor and that's what
we need to work on more than anything else," Hickey stressed, "having
them make good decisions at least while they're in the building."

Hickey said the school is looking to adopt more intervention programs
and solicit help from drug and alcohol abuse counsellors to meet
growing demands for services.