TIME'S UP FOR HELPING TEENS

For the most part, the news about B.C. youth in the latest Adolescent
Health Survey was good. Released last month by Burnaby's McCreary Centre
Society--a nonprofit educational organization that focuses on young
people's well-being--the report acknowledged that although rates of
marijuana use and binge drinking among boys were up over the last decade,
most teenagers are doing well. In fact, nine out of 10 say they are in good
or excellent physical health. Suicide-attempt rates have remained constant,
but at least they haven't gone up. Fewer teens are smoking and abusing
drugs. Most are waiting until they are older to have sex. And obesity rates
are lower than the national average.

Compare this to the reality of adolescents in England, where things are so
bleak--thanks to increased rates of smoking, substance abuse, and sexually
transmitted diseases--that a British Medical Association report released in
March called the situation "a public health time bomb". In the light of
England's experience, B.C. parents and health officials alike breathed a
collective sigh of relief.

But not everybody exhaled. Nichola Hall most certainly didn't. A mother of
two from Kerrisdale, she's one of the founding members of From Grief to
Action, a support network for parents of kids with addictions that has
evolved into a committed advocacy group. Her son, now 23 and undergoing
methadone treatment, was hooked on cocaine, then heroin, by the time he was
18. He and his mom, and others like them, are the faces behind the
not-so-good news in the McCreary report, the high-risk kids and their
parents from every demographic who say they are left to overcome addiction
on their own or hit the bottom in a system that offers little or no help.

In a phone interview with the Georgia Straight from her office at UBC,
where she works as continuing-studies program director, Hall said resources
for youth with addictions are appalling. "Vancouver's drug problem is the
worst in Canada, yet Quebec and Ontario offer far more services," she said.
"There's only two youth treatment centres in B.C. [Peak House in Vancouver
and Revision in Terrace]. That's 12 beds for the entire province. And when
a kid admits they're dependent and wants treatment, you've got to pick it
up right away, otherwise that opportunity is missed."

According to Viviana Zanocco, media-relations officer at the Vancouver
Coastal Health Authority, which, under the Liberal government, is
responsible for addictions services for youth and adults, such resources
are being expanded.

"We're looking to match client needs with a broader range of programs, such
as home-based detox or daytox, in which clients go to a program during the
day and go home at night," Zanocco said in a phone interview.

However, members of the FGTA group say they don't believe such treatments
are effective for teens. "Kids can just go to counselling during the day
and have their drugs at night," Hall said. "We need good residential
centres with three-month stays, at least."

But money and resources for such costly programs are already stretched
thin, Zanocco said. "We can't just add beds. We have to look at the
preventive side too and harm reduction." And apparently, there's a more
immediate problem. "What we're really concentrating on right now is this
whole methamphetamine thing, where kids are ending up in the emergency
wards. We don't know anything about the short- and long-term effects, nor
about effective treatments. It's an acute problem, especially in downtown
south." (The McCreary survey refutes claims of escalating crystal-meth
problems.)

Who are the teens making lousy choices? During an interview at the McCreary
Centre, Dr. Roger Tonkin, retired UBC pediatrics professor and chair of the
society's board, said there are certain signs parents should watch for.
"Kids with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, or
attention-deficit disorder are at risk. So are obese kids, or children who
look older than they are or who run away." There's no shortage of the
latter; according to the survey, one in 10 teens ran away from home in the
last decade.

Common to them all, according to Pat Mauch, a public-health nurse with the
VCHA and part of the McCreary report's project team, is low self-esteem.
"These kids are dealing with something that sets them apart, an especially
tough thing when you're a teenager. But all kids will be exposed to risky
choices. If they are resilient, if they feel good about themselves, believe
they can make good decisions, they'll make them."

Hall's son fit the profile. As a child, he had severe ADD and didn't make
friends easily. "Ritalin never suited him," recalled Hall, "but cocaine did
the job nicely."

The trouble, Tonkin said, is that people often don't see the signs until
it's too late. "Parents, schools, and communities need to rethink their
approach to high-risk behaviours in adolescents. We wait until they're
apprehended by the cops or addicted to drugs before we intervene."

Owen Perry, a youth and family counsellor with Family Services of the North
Shore, has worked with hundreds of high-risk young people and their
families. He agrees with Tonkin, explaining that many of his clients come
to him too late. "I was in youth court yesterday," Perry said on the line
from his office in North Vancouver, "and the judge had to decide whether to
punish this kid or give him a chance to rehabilitate." Perry believes if
more money went into programs that promote positive parenting or help
single-parent families, judges wouldn't have to make such agonizing decisions.

He's not the only one. Research linking positive conditions in early
childhood--such as a nurturing environment and a sense of community--to
well-being throughout life is well-documented. In fact, recent studies by
Dr. Clyde Hertzman, a leading epidemiologist at UBC, have demonstrated that
support and caring in early childhood are critical factors for brain
development, influencing a child's capacity to thrive later in life.

The McCreary survey also supports such findings. "By fostering connections,
competence, coping skills, and responsible behaviours, parents and
educators can prevent problems from developing and enable youth to face
challenges creatively," the report reads.

In the meantime, adults shouldn't give up on troubled teens, even in the
bleakest of circumstances, insisted Perry, who works with a couple of young
boys, 12 and 16, whose mother was brutally murdered when they were old
enough to be acutely aware of the horror of it. "They are now living with
the grandparents, who aren't perfect, but they are providing warmth and
compassion and love. Yes, the kids are struggling with school. And perhaps
they'll struggle with addiction, but I can tell you this: without those
grandparents, they'd be in jail."

His message to parents: "Hang in there. Say to your kids, 'Look, you're
going to screw up, but we'll be here for you when you do.' And then
constantly work at connecting with them. Every day. As often as you can."

It's no guarantee, but it may just be the best option out there.