HIGH SCHOOL INVITES PARENTS TO HELP COMBAT TEEN DRUG USE

LANGDON - Teen-agers, teachers and parents together are confronting a
growing drug problem that includes an increase in young girls abusing
prescription drugs.

In December, a freshman at Fall Mountain Regional High School was found
slumped over her desk. She had overdosed on OxyContin - a powerful
painkiller- and nearly died.

For Principal Marcy Henry, the scare increased her determination to see the
school do more to help students struggling with alcohol and other drug abuse.

That idea gets a kick-start next week, when the school hosts a parent
forum, "Take Back Our School!"

School officials hope the forum will help parents and educators work
together to battle a still-growing problem. The forum is based on a similar
event held at Portsmouth High School and will include a pharmacist
describing warning signs that a child is under the influence of drugs and a
parent speaking about the shock of discovering a child's drug problem.

"We've decided that this is a community problem, not just a high school
problem," said Robert Lister, Portsmouth's assistant school superintendent.

A recent survey by the University of New Hampshire found that more than 40
percent of Monadnock Region high school students reported binge drinking
during the month before the survey, and 24 percent said they used marijuana
at least monthly.

Anecdotal evidence from students suggest that use of prescription drugs,
including Oxycontin, is on the rise, especially among girls, said Thomas
Ferenc, Fall Mountain High assistant principal,

Fall Mountain students already attend classes on the effects of drugs, and
the school has a full-time worker dedicated to substance abuse counseling.
But all those things may not mean much when students walk out the school
door. That's where their friends and parents exert a major influence, and
that's where Henry hopes to go, starting with next week's forum.

"We can't do it alone," Henry said of the school's role. "I think there are
lots of parents who are in denial."

Langdon Police Chief Raymond L'Abbe said parents are sometimes an
impediment to helping their children.

He said he hears parents say, "Well, my son wouldn't do that; my daughter
wouldn't do that."

Meanwhile, students deny wrongdoing, even in the face of clear evidence.
"Everybody I deal with says they didn't do it. Everybody I deal with lies
to me," L'Abbe said.