RIVALS UNITE TO HELP FIGHT ALCOHOL, DRUG USE

HICKORY -- Rivals in football, basketball and other sports are uniting
to help fight drug and alcohol use among area middle and high school
students.

All three school systems in Catawba County are participating in the
Drug Education Forum from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday in the Catawba Valley
Community College Multi-purpose Complex.

Principal DeAnna Taylor of St. Stephens High School remembers what
someone said in a planning meeting.

"Let's leave the competition on the field and on the courts," she
said. "We're here as one united, unified front to help the kids. That
would be the whole idea."

Taylor said it was last spring when she started noticing not only
increased drug use among students, but also a more casual attitude
toward drugs.

It wasn't a matter of statistics, so much, she said, and she didn't
feel the evidence of drug use was unique to St. Stephens High.
Conversations soon led to cooperation with other schools, and the
effort started gaining momentum.

"Our goal is to present a united front against the forces after these
kids," said Peggy Mainess, an assistant principal at Hickory High School.

Organizers hope one of the outcomes is more cooperative efforts among
the local schools.

Many Catawba County churches mentioned the forum in bulletins last
Sunday and many are expected to have pulpit announcements about it
this Sunday.

Statistics compiled by the Council on Adolescents of Catawba County in
a 2000 survey found that 66 percent of 12th-graders said they'd used
drugs such as marijuana or cocaine. The figure was 35 percent for
eighth-graders.

The summer's Focus on Teens effort coordinated by the Council on
Adolescents found that substance abuse by youth was the primary
concern of adults and young people. Participants in a Hickory Youth
Council forum last spring also said drug use is a major concern.

Ronnie VonDrehl, one of the parents planning Sunday's forum, said
people often want to assume their child isn't involved with drugs or
alcohol or know anyone who is.

"The fact is that the drug dealer may no longer be a sinister person
in a dark alley," she said. "A drug dealer today could be a respected
and gifted student in high school."

The schools, churches, parents, human service agencies, local
governments and other groups are uniting as Community for Drug-Free
Youth in planning the forum.

Speakers will include school officials, substance abuse counselors,
law enforcement officials and three young people serving time for
crimes related to drug use.