Pubdate: Thu, 6 Dec 2007
Source: News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)
Copyright: 2007 The News-Times
Contact:  http://www.newstimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/637
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?237 (Drug Dogs)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

PARENTS PONDER STUDENT DRUG USE AT PRESENTATION

NEW MILFORD - A baker's dozen of parents wandered around two small 
tables in the high school lecture room, looking at water bottles with 
hollow bottoms, gum-wrapper type folded packets, wallet mirrors and 
tiny stamped pills.

Some were savvy enough to recognize the seemingly common items as 
drug paraphernalia. Others were stunned.

All were shaking heads at the statistics related to drug and alcohol 
use in local middle and high school students.

At a school-sponsored parent seminar, high school Resource Officer 
Donald Woods and Detective Scott Flockhart noted that New Milford is 
far from immune to the high incidence of drug and alcohol use 
touching teens from every walk of life, everywhere across this nation.

No matter how vigilant schools and communities strive to be, teens 
are savvy about how to stay one step ahead to disguise their taste 
for temptation, the officers said. So it is parents' collective duty 
to stay alert, be open to listening to their children's thoughts 
about drug use and to continually be aware of their children's 
friends and whereabouts, they said.  Sleepovers can be a way for 
children to hide forbidden behaviors from parents, they said.

"Love your kids, but don't have blinders on," Woods cautioned.

In one video clip, Flockhart showed a disturbing scene of a rave, a 
popular style of late night party with loud, techno music, flashing 
lights and plentiful supplies of the extremely addictive, 
mood-altering drug Ecstasy. At these parties that happen in this and 
other area communities, teens can suffer sexual assaults, violent 
attacks, overdoses, long-term brain damage and even death, they said.

Teens, too, often attend unsupervised private home parties where 
drinking and drug use are prevalent, they said.

"We're all equally vulnerable," proclaimed parent Dawne Gosselin.

She and several other parents said they find it disturbing that in a 
school of some 1,600 students that just over a dozen parents showed 
up to talk about a scourge that is affecting the lives of children everyday.

"Drugs are everywhere," Gosselin said, noting she favors bringing 
drug-sniffing dogs for spot checks at the high school.

Though the high school does not currently offer that type of 
surveillance, Woods said beyond his presence the school provides 
security officers, surveillance cameras, counselors, social workers 
and other staff who strive to be diligent about tracking down drug 
use and apprehending drug offenders.

"We do watch them from the time they come in 'til they go home," 
Woods said. "Kids don't do a lot of drinking and drugs in school, but 
we're still watching them all the time."

The school district has a no tolerance drug enforcement policy and 
students caught with drugs, most often marijuana, are arrested, he 
assured. And as harsh as an arrest might seem to some, it may be what 
a teen needs to understand the severity of their actions, Woods said.

Reacting to fact sheets about drug and alcohol use, many of the 
parents present were astounded that the average age for such 
experimentation starts between 11 and 14. Alcohol, and to a somewhat 
lesser degree marijuana, remain the top "gateway" drug for those under 21.

"Why are they starting so much younger?" one mother pondered.

The answers varied from media influences to advanced technology and 
lack of parental supervision that allows children more freedom than 
may be appropriate. Social We bsites such as MySpace and Facebook are 
often how students communicate about drug and alcohol use because 
they are aware many parents do not know how to access what their 
children are posting on the sites, parents and officers noted.

In conclusion, the officers advised that parents are the best 
"anti-drug" because they know their children.  Parents just need to 
stay aware and as much as possible network with other parents to stay 
abreast of what is happening to their children, they concurred.

"I thought this was good information," said parent Robert Cowan. "I 
didn't know what to expect, but I thought (the presentation) was valuable." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake