PARENTS CALLED VITAL IN DRUG WAR

Get Involved, Teens Urge At Forum

MIDDLETON - Don't be afraid to be involved -- even intrusive -- if you want
to keep your kids off drugs, a Middleton High School student advised parents
at a forum Tuesday night.

More than 250 people packed the school's cafeteria to ask questions
and get information from a panel that included school officials,
social workers, students and police officers. Catherine Zdeblick also
sat on the panel. Her daughter Julie, a junior at Middleton High
School, died from an Oxycontin overdose in March. That death has had a
big impact on the community.

Beth Wild, 18, who was a friend of Julie's, talked about her own
recovery from addiction to marijuana and Oxycontin. She told the crowd
that her parents were instrumental in getting her sober because they
were always there for her.

Wild, a senior at the Middleton Alternative High School, said she has
been sober for 99 days, although she has been in treatment for two
years.

She said that after several unhealthy relationships she finally
decided to take her treatment seriously. Wearing a T-shirt that said
"high on life," Wild told the crowd, "I love life and I'm very proud
of myself."

Wild said that her parents always offered her love, even when she
pushed them away.

"My parents never, ever gave up on me," Wild said. "They are amazing
people."

Wild and other students told the parents in the crowd that they have
to be intrusive to truly know what their kids are doing. Wild said
even when she was in treatment and taking weekly drug tests she
cheated on them "every single time, every single week."

Megan Kushner, 17, a senior at Middleton High School, stood and told
parents in the audience "your kids are lying to you."

Kushner said that she attended parties where kids drank in the
basement or smoked pot outside while parents were home upstairs. In an
interview after the meeting, Kushner said she used to sneak out of the
house late at night and hid drug paraphernalia in her car so that her
parents wouldn't find it.

"Parents are in such denial about what their kids are doing," Kushner
said. "Search your kid's stuff, listen to their phone conversations
and confront them."

Kushner said that most kids don't consider pot and alcohol to be
"real" drugs but said they can be very mentally addictive. She said
she only saw her drug use as a problem and got help after Zdeblick,
who was her best friend, died. Wild said that in treatment she learned
that most addicts can hide their problem from parents for nine months
to a year. She said even though she could hide it from her parents,
her friends knew.

"I kind of wish someone had told my parents," Wild said.

Cheryl Hoff, a social worker at Middleton's Alternative High School,
said it was hard for students to turn in their friends because of fear
of losing that friendship. But she encouraged students to talk to an
adult they trust if they have a friend with a problem.

"If it comes to the point of saving a life or keeping a friend, save
the life," she said.

During the question and answer forum, Vanessa Paeschke brought up the
high school's open campus lunch. The Middleton resident has a son in
sixth grade and said the policy "has to change."

She said that if kids miss class, parents receive a phone call from
the school -- but for an hour over lunch the kids can drive around and
go where they want. Nearby Fireman's Park is a popular lunchtime
hangout where students smoke and have access to drugs.

High School Principal Tom Vandervest replied that closing the campus
was unpopular with students, but said that an initiative from parents
could change the policy.

Paeschke's suggestion of closing the campus received vigorous applause
and after the meeting about a dozen parents talked about starting an
initiative to keep students in school during lunch.

After the meeting ended, many parents sat around and chatted. They
shared advice and were reassured that they are not the only parents
questioning their teenagers' activities.

"It was great reinforcement for what we are doing," Ann Green of
Middleton said about monitoring her high school student's activities.
"They treat you crazy for doing that and make you feel like you are
the only parent who does."

The meeting was organized by Parent Connections, a parent-run group
that has monthly information meetings.