Pubdate: Fri, 13 Jun 2003
Source: Rockingham News (NH)
Copyright: 2003 Seacoast Online
Contact:  http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/rock/index.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2958
Author: Julien Vernet

DRUG PREVENTION AT HEART OF DAY

KINGSTON - Sanborn Regional Middle School seventh-graders and their 
relatives participated in Project Safeguard, a day of outdoor activities 
and drug prevention talks, in Kingston last Friday. The event, held at the 
YMCA's Camp Lincoln, aimed to dissuade students from substance use by 
presenting healthy alternatives.

Students, relatives and school staff hiked, biked, fished and scaled Camp 
Lincoln's 30-foot climbing wall between adult and youth addresses.

Chris Nolan, a school guidance counselor, said the community-building event 
had helped expose students to safe alternatives for substance use.

"We want to provide positive alternatives to drugs and alcohol," Nolan 
said. "We want to teach healthy highs."

Students' family members had the opportunity to sit in on two hour-long 
prevention presentations by Tibor A. Palatinus, a speaker with Narconon 
International, a nonprofit drug prevention and rehabilitation organization. 
Palatinus, a former drug addict, warned his audience that bad child-parent 
communication on substance use could lead to experimentation.

"If you don't answer questions about the substances, the kid will go find 
out for himself," Palatinus said.

Parents who are unsure of how to field substance-related questions from 
their children were offered a general definition of drugs and an 
explanation of their effects that they could use to communicate with children.

"Drugs are essentially poisons. That applies to everything, and if this 
definition is given to kids early enough, they will accept it," Palatinus said.

"You should tell them that a little bit of a drug will stimulate you, a 
little more will put you to sleep, and a lot will kill you," he continued.

Sue Nelson, a parent of two from Newton, found Palatinus' seminar helpful 
but assumes that, despite education and prevention efforts, many teens will 
still experiment with substances.

"It (the seminar) gave me an idea of what to tell them when the question 
arises, but sooner or later, most of them are going to try it," Nelson 
said. "I just hope that common sense will play a big part in the choices 
they make."

The day included a keynote speech by Steve Gerety, a professional youth 
speaker and leadership trainer who encourages students to make positive 
choices.

Sean Spellman, 12, attended Gerety's talk and found it "very cool."

"He talked about drugs and not doing them, he really lays it down," 
Spellman said. "I'm not going to take drugs because they mess up your head."

Andrew Gaunt, of Kingston, wanted to spend the day with his 13-year-old 
daughter before it became "uncool" and said he believes community-building 
events are the best ways to avert substance abuse.

"I think having activities like this and having parents involved is the 
best way to do prevention," Gaunt said.

Project Safeguard, in its eighth year at Sanborn, is funded by the Sanborn 
Regional School District and Drugs Are Dangerous (DAD), a group that 
supports drug-prevention efforts.

DAD board and charter member Dick Gerrish, who started the organization 
after a local teen's suicide, stressed the benefits of early drug-education 
programs.

"For every dollar we spend in prevention, we save seven in intervention and 
treatment," Gerrish said.

"The school-age population represents 20 percent of our population but 100 
percent of our future," he said. "And if we neglect the needs these 
children (have), we neglect the future of our towns and our of our nation."
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MAP posted-by: Alex