Pubdate: Tue, 12 Feb 2002
Source: Citizen, The (NH)
Copyright: 2002, Geo. J. Foster Co
Contact:  http://www.citizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1408
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

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.
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