Pubdate: Mon, 28 Mar 2005
Source: Sentinel And Enterprise, The (MA)
Copyright: 2005 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Mid-States Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://sentinelandenterprise.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2498
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

PARENTS MUST STEER KIDS STRAIGHT

Steven Creamer, Leominster's school resource officer, told the Sentinel & 
Enterprise drugs aren't hard to come by anymore.

"It's who you know," said Creamer. "It could be an older brother, it could 
be the guy down the street, it could be someone here."

Creamer says some high-school kids don't even try to hide their drug use. 
"A lot of kids are open about their drug use. It's almost like it's a badge 
of honor for some kids," Creamer said. "Other kids are straight edge and 
wear that as a badge of honor."

Creamer talks about high-school drug use in today's installment of our 
special 10-part report, "Decades of Addiction-Drugs in North Central Mass." 
Many students and administrators say there's always been drug use by 
high-school students, but now teenagers here   in North Central 
Massachusetts have access to a wider range of drugs.

Where in the past students may have stuck to marijuana and alcohol, they 
now may be using cocaine, a variety of prescription drugs, and even heroin. 
"Back in the '70s, it was primarily marijuana. Now we have cocaine, pills. 
We never had Ecstasy back then," said Gardner High School Principal Robert 
Gillis. Dora Arnhold, a Gardner high school student, says many parents are 
naive about their children's drug and alcohol use.

"Parents. They have no idea," The Gardner High student said. "Their kids 
would never do something like that. ... Their kids are perfect." Many area 
high schools have ramped up their efforts to stop illegal drug use and 
drinking by teenagers.

But they can only do part of   the job. The rest belongs to parents, who 
need to reach out to their children to know when there's a problem. Here's 
some telltale signs of drug use: * Grades dropping * Change in friends * 
Borrowing or stealing money * Violent outbursts * Reckless behavior * Use 
of eyedrops * Curfew violations * Glassy eyes * Lying * Valuables missing 
and * Secretive   behavior Sentinel & Enterprise Copyright  2005
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