MEQUON BATTLES YOUTH DRUG ABUSE

Community Looks To More Aggressive Approach

Mequon - Concerned that previous efforts weren't working, school officials
here are taking a more aggressive approach to curbing drug and alcohol use
by students.

"I would like to think that with what we are doing here, our drug use would
be going down, and it really hasn't, so this is the next step," said Tom
Balliet, director of pupil services for the Mequon-Thiensville School District.

The district surveys its middle and high school students each year, asking
them if and how much they drink, smoke and use drugs.

Although the numbers of students who admit to using illegal substances is a
small percentage of the overall population, there has been no significant
sustained decrease in the numbers over the 12 years the district has done
the survey, Balliet said.

Mequon is the only district in Ozaukee and Washington counties to have a
staff member whose job is solely to coordinate alcohol and drug prevention
efforts. The district has a strong parent organization dedicated to the
cause and it presents regular programs for parents and students.

Mequon also developed its own intervention program for students who have
been identified as having problems with drug and alcohol use.

This year, the district is stepping up its data collection efforts by
surveying parents for the first time to test whether their perceptions of
student drug and alcohol use match those of their children. If the data
shows a significant mismatch, "that tells us that the parents really don't
know what is going on and we need to give them the data," Balliet said.

The Ozaukee Council is hired by Ozaukee County to provide prevention and
intervention programs for local school districts. Mequon participates in
only one of the programs because it prefers to focus its efforts and money
exclusively on the local level, Balliet said.

Brenda Stanislawski, executive director of the Ozaukee Council, said the
agency does not track local student drug and alcohol use. The group did
coordinate a countywide survey several years ago but that survey was
dropped when local grant money for school districts was cut back, she said.

The council did not pursue other types of surveys because it was up to the
school districts to approve any such projects, Stanislawski said.

She supports surveys like those done in Mequon and wishes the countywide
effort could have continued.

"We'd really have been able to see something then," she said.

Letter calls for community help

Also new in Mequon this year is a stronger push to get all elements of the
community involved in the fight against underage drinking and smoking.
Balliet sent hundreds of letters recently to "stakeholders" in the
district, including parents, business owners, churches, community
organizations, legislators and law enforcement officials.

The letter outlined the problem, using data gleaned from the student
surveys. The statistics highlighted the correlation between smoking and
drinking and drug use. Of the 25% of 12th graders who smoke, 80% drink once
a month or more and 85% use marijuana. Of the students who do not smoke,
60% do not drink and 75% do not use marijuana.

The letter went on to outline specific suggestions that each type of
"stakeholder" could use to address the problem.

Parents were urged to keep track of their children's whereabouts and check
with other parents hosting parties to make there will be no drinking.
Businesses were urged to check for ID when selling tobacco and alcohol and
also to limit advertising for those products. Restaurants were encouraged
to make at least a section smoke-free.

"It's very easy for people to say, 'I don't know what to do,' " said Kathy
Lamb, Mequon's alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention coordinator.

Ultimately the goal is to get everyone in the area to take responsibility
for the problem.

"It's a community problem," Balliet said. "Kids aren't drinking in schools.
They aren't smoking in schools."