SUBSTANCE ABUSE IS FOCUS OF CONFERENCE FOR YOUTHS

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP -- George Long Jr. wants everyone in the community
to know there are good kids in the school district, children who stay
out of trouble, who don't drink, take drugs or smoke.

In addition, there are high school students who take time out of their
busy lives to mentor junior high students, and junior high students
who are smart enough to know that they do not know everything.

"There are kids doing positive things," Long said, adding, "these kids
are student leaders and peer leaders who are active in their schools."

Long is the alliance coordinator of the Freehold Community Alliance to
Prevent Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.

As he made his comments he was standing in a hallway of the Brookdale
Community College facility on Route 9 while Gary Gellman filmed him
explaining the Teen Institute of the Garden State (TIGS) program for
Freehold Township's municipal access cable television channel.

In a large room in the basement of the Brookdale building, about 200
enthusiastic seventh and eighth-graders from around the state,
including 40 students from the township's Barkalow and Eisenhower
middle schools and 10 students from Freehold Borough, were being
energized by songs and games.

The students were attending the May 7 Junior TIGS Conference sponsored
by the college and the Freehold Community Alliance.

TIGS, a program of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug
Dependence, was established in 1987 as an alcohol, tobacco and other
drug prevention education and leadership training program for high
school students. The organization trains participants on how to start
prevention programs in their schools and communities while instilling
peer leadership skills.

The Junior TIGS program was established in 1996 in order to reach
middle school students. Junior TIGS offers a one-day training session
that prepares middle school students for the TIGS program in high
school. In addition to teaching the resistance skills necessary to
refuse drugs and alcohol, the program includes information on peer
pressure and group-building activities, scripts on diversity and
effective decision-making skills.

The program is trying to raise awareness now while students are in
the sixth, seventh and eighth grades and are still just thinking about
using a substance, Long said.

The Junior TIGS program staff is made up of the high school students
who have attended the TIGS Summer Conference or a TIGS Leadership
Training session. The May 7 conference was led by students from the
Allentown Lifesavers Club at Allentown High School in western Monmouth
County.

Long decided that he wanted to bring the conference to the Freehold
area. It had been held in various places around the state, but never
in Monmouth County, he said.

Freehold Borough Superintendent of Schools Philip J. Meara asked the
students who were participating in the conference what they knew
about Freehold.

The youngsters said they had heard of the Freehold Raceway Mall and
Freehold Raceway.

Meara noted that Freehold is also the home of a Nestle factory and is
the hometown of singer Bruce Springsteen.

When the students were asked why they came to the conference, some
said to get out of school, but others said they came to meet new
people, to learn from each other and to learn to be drug free.

After the introduction, students attended workshops where they were
trained on how to impact their school and community with new
prevention activities and leadership skills.