SCHOOLS FIGHT DRUGS WITH MUSIC

With all the gusto of a typical elementary school stage production on
barnyard animals or American forefathers, Jackling Elementary students
nailed their choreography, hit their notes and remembered their lines
during a performance last week.

But the subject matter was far from typical for such young children.

Their repertoire included such songs as "It's Bad, Bad Stuff," (" 'Cause
it's bad, bad stuff, those drugs they pass around/ They're no good for you
at all/ Yeah, it's bad, bad stuff, those drugs they pass around/ Causing
you to fall)" and "Go for a Natural High" ("Go for a natural high, high,
high, high/ When you are feeling down low/ Surf on the ocean or ski down a
hill/ Ride a big roller coaster if you want a thrill/ . . . You're going to
get satisfaction, I know/ If you go for a natural high, high, high, high").

The musical is part of a new drug-use-prevention program the Granite School
District recently launched in all 61 of its elementary schools, targeting
16,300 students in grades one through three.

"If you entertain kids, they'll get the message," said Janeen Brady, a Salt
Lake City author who wrote the "Play it Smart" songs and a companion
booklet for parents, 10 Tips for Raising Drug Free Kids.

Brady and her husband Ted donated the song and parent booklets to the
district with the intention of reaching the youngest students.

Older students already get instruction in drug-use prevention.

Even though the young students at Jackling in West Valley City probably
don't know much about getting high, sniffing glue or why drug dealers get
rich off of users -- all concepts broached in the songs -- Jackling
Principal Sally Sanders said she believes the songs will stay with students
long after they move on to junior high school.

"If the songs get in their brains when they're young, it stays there when
they're faced with these situations when they're older," she said.

Nationwide, nearly one high school student in three reported drinking
alcohol for the first time before the age of 13, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention's 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. One
in 10 reported trying marijuana before age 13.

Boys were more likely than girls to have used drugs or alcohol before
becoming teenagers.

Many of the drug-prevention programs the federal government's Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration considers "model programs"
emphasize parental involvement, life skills such as strong decision-making
and the toll drug and alcohol abuse takes on the body.

Brady's program has not been reviewed by the agency.