PLEDGE DESIGNED TO PREVENT TOBACCO, DRUG USE

Letters explaining the new Shawnee High School "Pack Pride Pledge" will be
winging their way to parents and guardians of all students within the next
few days. The pledge is an attempt to prevent alcohol, tobacco and drug use
by SHS students.

Students who sign the pledge and whose parents sign the accompanying parent
pledge will receive a photo ID card entitling them to discounts at a list
of Shawnee businesses.

The student pledge reads: I pledge to be alcohol, tobacco and drug free. I
pledge to encourage others by my example. I pledge to leave a party where
alcohol, tobacco or drugs exist.

Parents pledge: to refrain from knowingly allowing parties or gatherings in
their homes when a parent is not there; to refrain from serving alcoholic
beverages to underage youth or allowing them to be served to underage youth
in the parents' homes or on their property; to refuse to allow the use or
presence of any illegal drugs in their homes or on their property; and to
discourage the underage use of tobacco in their homes or on their property.

"No, I don't think we have a severe drug problem," Lee Hamilton, SHS
principal, told the News-Star. "But, any high school in America has some
type of a drug problem."

Hamilton said that including alcohol and tobacco into the mix translates
into a drug problem for SHS, "because alcohol and tobacco use by underage
students is prevalent in the community."

The Pack Pride Pledge "is based on a need for prevention, on peer pressure,
to give the kids an easy way to say, ONo,'" Hamilton explained. "If the
parents support the students in a manner like this, which is fairly public,
it gives the students an easy way out to say, ONo! I'm not going to drink
that beer.'"

Hamilton said the most important aspect of the merchandise discounts is not
the discounts themselves but the support the businesses are offering. "They
are saying, as community leaders, OWe support anything that the school, the
community or parents can do to help students be drug, alcohol and tobacco
free.'"

Hamilton is asking parents and guardians to read and sign the pledge that
is included with the letter and return it to the high school office.
Students will receive an explanatory brochure during a class meeting at the
beginning of the fall term. After an in-depth discussion, students will
decide whether to participate in the Pack Pride Pledge.

"I would like to encourage parents to sit down and discuss this with their
children (and) go over what it means," Hamilton said.

Students who sign the pledge will receive their photo IDs soon after. They
will be able to use the IDs for such discounts as a buy-one, get-one free
deal on carry-out pizza at Domino's, a $3 buffet at Cafe Pepperoni or 10
percent off the regular price of a pair of subwoofers at Sunmasters.

Hamilton said promotion of the Pack Pride Pledge will be tied into SHS
leadership classes and its student council.

"Whenever someone calls and asks about the pledge, predominantly, the
student leaders will be the ones who are leading this program," he said.
SHS student leaders also will explain the program in their visits to the
middle and elementary schools.