Pubdate: Thu, 17 Jul 2003
Source: Barrington Times (RI)
Copyright: 2003 Barrington Times
Contact:  http://www.barringtonri.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1814
Author: Amy Myrick
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

TEENS SAY DRUGS PREVALENT

`Jordan,' a senior at Barrington High, pushes up his sunglasses and
jams the gas hose into his battered white sedan at the Shell Station
on County Road.

"Ask anyone, anyone will tell you that, guaranteed. There's a ton of
it at school. Personally I don't do it, but it's pretty frequent."

Jordan was talking about drugs which, according to the SALT survey
released by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education this
week, have a significant presence at Barrington High School, one of
the state's most affluent and respected schools. The survey shows that
41 percent of Barrington High students said they have been offered
drugs.

Barrington's numbers are high -- higher than many surrounding
communities, including the Bristol Warren Regional School District.
However, the results also show that while many students are asked to
use drugs, fewer actually imbibe. Just 27 percent of students surveyed
said they used drugs in the month before the SALT survey was given.

Why does Barrington have such numbers?

"Because the kids have money, 90 percent," Jordan, who didn't want to
give his full name, said.

"It's mommy and daddy's money. There aren't really any poor kids here,
so people can buy drugs if they want to. They don't care."

A 15-year-old Barrington High sophomore wheeling his bike outside
Dunkin Donuts agreed.

"It's mostly money, and there's nothing to do. It's not like a city
where you can do something. But it's probably mostly the money," he
said. He said kids get allowances or hold part-time and summer jobs
that leave them with plenty of cash.

While SALT survey results raise questions about the relationship
between wealth and substance abuse, Barrington school officials said
it's hard to say just how affluence factors into the equation.

Barrington High School principal John Gray worries that the study may
make drug abuse seem like a problem affecting a select few.

"Where there's affluence there are resources. But this is not a
problem that is indigenous to an economic level. Substance abuse rests
on the front doorstep of every home and every family," he said.

Mr. Gray said schools receive more attention in wealthy towns -- where
residents place a premium on education -- but they are not a problem
unique to schools. In fact, he said, they're omnipresent.

"We have to acknowledge the issue that drugs have been, are, and will
be an issue in our society. Schools are just a microcosm of the larger
society," he said.

Superintendent Ralph Malafronte also cautioned against equating drug
abuse with wealth.

"I don't think it matters where you are. If you have 1,000 students
together, you're going to get the same responses," he said.

But Mr. Malafronte noted that affluent communities like Barrington
face some unique issues. He dubbed one a "work hard, party hard"
mentality. He recalled his own kids, excellent students who told him
they would go out on Fridays to relax. He thought students at rigorous
Barrington might feel the same way.

"They seem to work hard, study hard, do well, and feel an entitlement
to the partying," he said, adding that he hopes kids outgrow the mentality.

Some Barrington High students said drugs and studying don't
necessarily conflict, at least at their level.

"People still do good in school. Drugs don't affect them academically.
I know this junior, she has a 4.0 and she got a 1490 on the SAT. You
can't cheat on that. And she smokes (marijuana) all the time," the
15-year-old said.

His friend, also a sophomore at Barrington, agreed that while drug use
is common, most users are good students looking to have fun on
weekends and escape boredom. He said Barrington doesn't seem like more
of a drug mecca to him than other schools, citing Mt. Hope High School
in Bristol as an example. Recreational drug use and experimentation,
he claimed, is pretty standard for kids his age.

"I don't think anyone's addicted. It's just something to do on the
weekends, mostly just fun. There are probably like two people in the
whole school who actually do drugs in [Barrington High] school," he
said.

Jordan, pumping gas into his car, agreed that a few people actually
smoke in the halls or the stalls.

"People go to school high, and they do a lot of the dealing at
school," he said.

Mr. Malafronte described another problem he sees at Barrington High:
Parents who allow kids to use drugs and alcohol because they see it as a
rite of passage. He said the school's annual substance-free "after prom
party" has to compete with house parties at which parents provide the
liquor.

Pamela Lowell, a therapist in a Riverside private practice, is part of
a school-based group called `Barrington Cares' with members drawn from
parents, community members and counselors from the middle and high
schools. The group is trying to increase parental involvement with
substance abuse issues. Ms. Lowell said she treats many students from
Barrington, where marijuana and alcohol are the substances of choice.

"What I hear from the kids is, there's nothing to do in town and
parents aren't watching as closely as they could. Kids say their
parents go out for the evening or away for the weekend, or they're
just not noticing," she said. She feels parents are concerned, but
don't know how to act.

"Nobody wants their kids drinking and boozing. I think that's a false
stereotype about parents in town," she said. "I think the majority of
parents do care, but they're not connected and they don't know what to
do."

Ms. Lowell also disputed the idea that drugs are a harmless activity
for many students.

"I don't think the kids that use want to either. Most of the kids I
see aren't real happy about being users," she said. "If the parents
support it, that's sad."

Mr. Malafronte and Mr. Gray both said the SALT results should not be
taken too literally. Mr. Gray felt the survey questions were
oversimplified, failing to consider where else a kid might have
encountered drugs -- namely, the street or a neighbor's house.

He also said that a two-year campaign to fund a full-time substance
abuse counselor at the high school has failed to bear fruit.

Mr. Malafronte agreed that the survey has brought negative attention
to a school system with far more assets than problems. He thought a
recent story in the state newspaper was too harsh.

"The article makes it look if you walk down the hall someone will open
a locker and sell you drugs," he said, noting that actually just three
students were suspended last year for possession of drugs, and none
for the sale of drugs.

Mr. Malafronte said the survey contains a wealth of interesting and
useful information unrelated to drugs, and much of it highlights
strengths of the town schools. Those same strengths won Barrington
High recognition as a Blue Ribbon School last year.

But according to Mr. Malafronte, the honor garnered little media
attention. Instead, news of drugs in the suburbs has brought pundits
to his door.

"We do an excellent job with the resources we have."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin