BEST PREVENTION? TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT DRUGS

KINGSPORT - How can parents protect their children from a society
filled with images of alcohol, drugs and sex and from the high demands
of peer pressure?

First and foremost, counselors say talk to your kids. Keep
communication open, and drive home how damaging drugs and alcohol can
be. And start when your children are young.

"Know what your kids are doing and be involved," said Greg Harper,
former assistant program manager at Comprehensive Community Services'
Adolescent Treatment Center. "Teenagers are still children. The law of
our country acknowledges that they are still minors. They can't make
decisions for themselves. Therefore parents should not allow a 13-,
14- or 15-year-old to make decisions for themselves. It's a huge
problem that we have. ... Too many parents just cut them off when they
become as tall as them or look like adults. But they are still really
kids."

"Give guidance early on," added CCS Program Manager Missy Glisson.
"And if they haven't been involved enough in their child's life up to
then, a child is not going to come to them and tell them some of the
things that are going on in their lives."

Other than buying a drug-sniffing dog to prowl a teen's room, Frontier
Health Counselor Nina Hancock said watch the patterns when a teen
comes home from an outing. Are they coming in late, and are they
avoiding eye contact?

If you suspect or catch your child using drugs or alcohol, it may be
more than just a rite of passage, Hancock said.

"I think it is rare that they get in trouble or get caught on a
first-time thing. It's possible, but it's rare. If it's causing them
problems ... then there is probably more use than you know," she said.

Sullivan County Juvenile Court Judge Stephen Jones agrees and says
parents should watch for any changes in a child's behavior and not
take those changes lightly.

"Be observant about your kids. Be careful not to let them stay out
late at night, because I have found out that most of the problems
occur at night, at a time when nobody should be out. Be especially
careful about who their peers are. Watch for signs of change in a
child, and bizarre behavior. It may not be the normal cycle of
adolescence. If you find any alcohol and drugs, it may not be just a
growing-up thing because they may be into it a whole lot deeper than
you think," Jones said.

Jones has tried a creative approach in his courtroom to punish kids
caught with drugs in school called "Shock Incarceration." He sends a
child straight to jail in the hopes of getting his or her attention.

"I think it is extremely effective. They're shown real quick where
their life is heading. This generation of kids is different than the
last one. Years ago, we would send them to Brushy Mountain for a
Scared-Straight (juvenile crime prevention) program. These kids will
laugh at you if you did that. You have to show them," Jones said.

"The trick is that they have to realize that they have lost their
freedom because they violated the law, and if they don't straighten up
their lives, the message is clear. The things that will happen are
these - they'll end up losing their freedom, they'll end up in an
institution because they are addicted. They'll end up hurt or dead."