Pubdate: Wed, 01 Mar 2006 Source: Hudson/St. Lazare Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2006 Lake of Two Mountains Gazette Ltd. Contact: http://pages.infinit.net/gazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4094 HOW TO RESPOND? Tomorrow's round table at the Hudson Community Centre has invited what it hopes will be a critical mass of expertise to come up with a methodology to counter the recreational drug use so prevalent in our communities. But addiction counsellors, street-drug experts and educators can only do so much. As our story this week on the fallout from the death of 13-year-old Stevie Reilly points out, we can offer our young people all the recreational opportunities possible, but they'll still experiment with drugs, because they're now a rite of passage. There's something else the experts can't supply. On Monday morning, Dawn and Greg Reilly brought Stevie's little sister to our office to bring us an In Memoriam for their dead daughter. We talked briefly about all that has gone by since Stevie's death Feb. 6. Dawn said she wanted to thank all the people who have showed so much kindness and and sympathy over the past three weeks. But she can't forgive how others broke the chain of trust that began when she entrusted Stevie to the mother of Stevie's 14-year-old school friend. That chain broke not once, but twice, when that friend's mother effectively entrusted both girls to the mother of the 16-year-old who has pleaded guilty to providing them with the party drug that killed Stevie. Why do children as young as Stevie try drugs? Look at their websites, because most of them have them. Read the chatrooms and guestbooks, because they speak volumes about what the kids are thinking. It's all about being cool and getting accepted in the cyberlinked extended family of today's youth. On one site dedicated to the memory of Stevie, there is a guestbook filled with angry, remorseful posts. Some are hate-filled ventings directed at the 16-year-old who took advantage of his age and experience to seduce the two younger girls, but not because he supplied them the ecstacy. In fact, in all the posts in that guestbook, we did not find one condemning drugs, or warning of the consequences of their use. What does that tell us about the role of recreational drugs in our local sleepover society? How to respond? We doubt most parents have the temperament required to police their child's cyberspace, monitoring e-mails and cellphone text messages and tracking websurfing. Today's teens are adept at covering their tracks if they feel they must, and many say their electronic family is closer in many ways than the people they live with. Many parents want to see drug-sniffing dogs in our schools. They've been used effectively at several West Island high schools, notably in the territory covered by Community Police Station 1. Commander Michel Lecompte believes in taking a hard stand against drugs, and that includes busting anyone selling, buying or using. But the dogs can't sniff out ecstacy or crystal meth, or any of the far more dangerous amphetamine-based concoctions that are increasing in popularity among today's young. We still think the Lester B. Pearson School Board made a serious mistake in splitting Westwood High School into junior and senior campuses. The theory was that the separation would lessen the pressure on the younger kids to be cool. But the corollary is that the older kids look after the younger ones, especially if they see signs that predators are taking advantage of the newbies' need to be accepted. Some believe we're too permissive. One outraged Hudsonite called us to rant about the poster for this month's battle of the bands at the Community Centre. "Did you read those names," he roared. "Butt Muffins, Delicious Young Boys what kind of message are we sending when we allow this?" We respectfully disagree. Experimentation and expression are part of maturing. Are we doing enough? The Hudson Community Centre is closest to the front line in this struggle of values called growing up. Next week, we will be devoting plenty of space to what came out of the Community Centre round table and where participants think the next steps should take us. But we can guarantee this: Experts can talk forever, but they're not the people who will get the job done. Read Lucie Tremblay's letter. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman