SCHOOLS NEED A 'FOURTH R' TO HELP CURB DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE

Expert Says Teens Need To Learn How To Have Healthy
Relationships

There's no magic or easy solution to the problems of drug and alcohol
abuse by area teens, a drug awareness forum in Chesley was told Tuesday.

Developing meaningful relationships is key to adolescent well-being,
David A. Wolfe, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the
University of Toronto and director of the Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health Centre for Prevention Science, said.

Wolfe believes so strongly in the importance of healthy relationships
for teens with their peers, teachers and especially their parents that
he and his colleagues are promoting the "fourth R" for schools.

"We have the three R's in school - reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic,"
he said, "But now we need the fourth R" - a comprehensive initiative
for reducing adolescent violence and related risk behaviours "by
educating them on what a positive, healthy relationship really is."

Wolfe was a guest speaker at "Dazed & Confused: A Forum to Help
Parents and Professionals Understand the Risks of Drug Use in
Grey/Bruce," an all-day seminar that attracted about 100 area
educators, youth and social workers, parents and police officers.

"Given the recent attention to crystal methamphetamine, many parents
are increasingly concerned with the issue of drug use," said one of
the organizers, Linda Yenssen, of public health and the Grey Bruce
Focus Committee. "This is the first time we've opened something like
this up to parents . . . it is important that we keep everyone on the
same page."

The day-long session included a morning panel discussion examining the
local drug scene, the effects drugs can have and the resources
available to help those who are addicted and the afternoon session
with Wolfe.

"There are no simple solutions, no magic pills to solve the problems,"
Wolfe said.

During the morning session, Const. Jeff Mercey of the South Bruce OPP
said although crystal meth use "is becoming increasingly popular and
is something users can become quickly addicted to, alcohol abuse
remains the number one drug problem in Grey-Bruce."

In an Ontario-wide survey of high school students in 2005, 62 per cent
reported regular binge drinking, with 63.7 per cent of Grey-Bruce
students - the majority of them under the legal drinking age - saying
they regularly drink to excess.

"Crystal meth and alcohol are competing against each other in
popularity," Mercey said.

His comments were echoed by another member of the panel, Dave Roy of
the Choices counselling service for youth.

He said "youth drinking is starting at an earlier age" with 13 to 19
year olds reporting the highest percentage of binge drinking in Ontario.

"And again, Grey-Bruce numbers were higher than the provincial
average."

Like Wolfe, Roy encouraged workshop participants "to connect and
listen" to the teens.

"Adolescents wish their parents knew what was happening in their life,
but they don't want to tell them," Wolfe said. "They want their
parents to understand what it's like to be them."

Sometimes bullying at school or an unstable home environment are the
reasons teens turn to substances "to try and rid themselves of the
problem. They adapt to what works . . . they don't know what else to
do."

"Having a healthy relationship with friends, parents and teachers you
can trust can make all the difference to a teen who is uncertain about
things."

"Strengthen those relationships and you'll strengthen the teen," he
said and thus end, or at least reduce, the circle of risky behaviour.
"Kids today are getting so many mixed messages . . . they need to know
there are choices, they need to know the facts and they need people
they can depend on to help them."

"Intimacy and relationships are major developmental tasks for teens
.they have to learn how to relate, need to understand peer and
gender differences and do all that when their brains have not fully
developed in that reasoning area," Wolfe said. "Girls grow up seeking
connection and boys grow up seeking status. They don't know how to
relate to each other and often fall back on images seen on TV - most
of them gender stereotypes and sexually explicit - as their source of
information. That's why having a good relationship with open
communication is so important."

"Early to mid-adolescence is a battleground," Wolfe said, with teens
facing pressures to conform and yet be individuals at the same time.

Building relationship needs to begin in pre-teen years to be
effective, Wolfe added. "Help your child by building a healthy
relationship with them."

A balance of sensitivity and firmness is essential, Wolfe said, adding
"parents should never questions you don't want to hear answers to."

Wolfe also encouraged "harm reduction as opposed to zero tolerance,"
saying it is unrealistic to think teens will not experiment. He also
stressed the importance of an authoritative, not authoritarian,
approach and said special effort should be made to "accentuate the
positive . . . Teens appreciate knowing the limits and above all, they
appreciate knowing others, especially those close to them, care about
them."