Pubdate: Thu, 09 Nov 2006 Source: Lincoln News Messenger (CA) Copyright: 2006 Gold Country Media Contact: http://www.lincolnnewsmessenger.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4342 Author: D.E. Kern OUR STUDENTS NEED ACTIVISTS, NOT OSTRICHES It's official; I spend too much time working with adults. I made that realization this week when something - call it fate or the News Messenger's assignment board - brought me in contact with students at four local schools. The plan was to visit and gather information for our story on student leadership. With Election Day coming up, I was to take a closer look at how the democratic process is applied on campus. But I learned a heckuva lot more. You see, this past week students in the Western Placer Unified School District celebrated Red Ribbon Week, five days dedicated to the concept of living drug free. I had heard about the event previously, but it wasn't until I arrived at Glen Edwards Middle School that I received a succinct definition courtesy of Heather Phelps, a student in Lorie Wrightman's leadership class. Later, Red Ribbon Week came up again as I chatted with Mason Humes, president of the Student Council at Foskett Ranch Elementary School. Something was abundantly clear: Our kids are open to the message that drugs damage or kill those who abuse them, those close to abusers and many of the fine men and women trying to stop the abuse. But still a question lingered. How good of a job are we, as adults, doing of delivering the anti-drug message? I think the biggest difference between adults and kids is that we older folks, and note that I'm including myself here, tend to favor what I call the ostrich pose. We have our heads in the sand when it comes to some of the biggest issues in life, choosing instead to waste our time worrying about what's in the driveway, what's in the bank and what's on our personal agendas. We look at stuff such as Red Ribbon Week and dub it as "nice" or "good work," but we choose not to really get involved. Instead, we take about 10 seconds to express our opinion on the schools' efforts and move on. But who do we think we're kidding? No school system is equipped to deal with the daunting task of fighting drugs alone, and it certainly cannot be done in one week, no matter how well marketed and well promoted. Those efforts are a nice start, but little more. Why? Because with students and a handful of well-intentioned teachers leading the way, there is a danger Red Ribbon Week will become little more than a series of themed dress-up days (i.e. Put a Cap on Drugs). So what to do? Certainly not what several Twelve Bridges Middle School parents did when they posted diatribes at http://www.mytwelvebridges.com regarding that school's approach to Red Ribbon Week. Tell me, what good does that do? Did Twelve Bridges do everything right? My guess is probably not. And guess what? Probably no other school in the country did either. Neither did GEMS, Foskett Ranch, First Street Elementary nor Lincoln High School. But I visited all those schools this week and I can tell you their kids at least had a clue, which is more than I can say for most parents. Drug education begins at home. And it must continue in the community with the help of pastors, police officers, politicians, coaches, neighbors and even newspaper people. Of course the schools have a place in the process too. But it's a shame when we make their place an island. One neighbor working to ensure that isn't the case is Phillip Dudley, general secretary of our local branch of Narcotics Anonymous. I took time for lunch with Phil this week because, well, like me, he only acts like an adult 60 percent of the time. But he's deadly serious about his work to stop the proliferation of drugs and get meaningful help to those devastated by addiction. To this end, he's constantly thinking about new ways to help: meetings, school assemblies, recreational activities ... You name it, Phil will try it. Phil tells me he's already found some great partners, namely the First Baptist and Emmaus churches here in Lincoln. But he needs many more. I think it's high time some of us ditch the ostrich pose; there's too much to do and too little time. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine