drdĒv
12-08-2004, 12:52 AM
The Colchester Youth Services Bureau has formed a local prevention council that is looking at ways to stop teens from abusing alcohol and drugs.
COLCHESTER - The youth services bureau has formed a local prevention council that is looking at ways to stop teens from abusing alcohol and drugs.
The council, which began meeting in October, is looking at various drug and alcohol prevention courses. The courses would run for eight to twelve weeks and would probably be held during school hours, which means it would need approval from the board of education.
Valerie Geato, director of youth services, said that at a budget hearing this spring, a parent asked her if the schools could do more to teach students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. The parent then met with Geato and Karen Loiselle, who was curriculum director at the time, and they decided to form a council to discuss the issue.
"We wanted to have a separate group dedicated to reducing or eliminating illegal drug use in young people," she said. "We have about nine people so far, and are still accepting members."
Geato also said that in the past she had tried to put together groups with a similar mission, but could not find enough interested people.
Events in recent years may have raised awareness of the drug issue. A variety of new drugs, such as Ecstasy, have become increasingly popular among young people in the past decade. Locally, the number of drug-related expulsions has gone up dramatically in the past few years. The problem has even reached the middle school, where four students were expelled for dealing drugs last year. School officials say the school resource officer, who began visiting schools in 2001, has helped them find and punish more drug dealers by encouraging students to report peers who are doing drugs, which accounts for the increase in expulsions.
Currently students learn about the dangers of drugs through the DARE (drug abuse resistance education) program which is presented by local police to youngsters in elementary school. They also learn about drugs in fifth grade, but the subject isn't covered again until tenth grade health class.
Geato's proposal is for a more intensive program which would be taught to middle school students in sixth or seventh grade. That age is considered the best time to educate them on the issue, since most students who do drugs start in high school.
Everyone at the meeting agreed that students need more education about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. But there were concerns about the logistics.
"Some teachers are afraid to give up instruction time," said Scott Cohn, a parent. "They're on tight schedules."
Maddalena Scrivano, a teacher at William J. Johnston Middle School, said there's not enough time for all the subjects being taught now.
"The reading program in seventh grade was cut in half, and half the students did poorly in reading," she said. "More instruction is truly needed, but we don't know where to put it. We can't fit additional programs into the schedule."
Other possible options include holding the drug prevention classes at the Youth Center after school, or having a one-time assembly type of program with follow-up programs throughout the school year.
In March, Bacon Academy's student newspaper, the Bacon Courier, reported that, according to a random survey of high school seniors, alcohol was the most popular drug. Seventy percent of those surveyed said they had used it. Marijuana was second most popular, with 46 percent of the survey group admitting they had gotten stoned.
A new drug that has become popular is dextromethorphan, or DXM, the Bacon Courier said, and 41 percent of the survey group had tried it, making it almost as popular as marijuana. DXM is found in cough or cold medicine pills and cough syrup, and its effects are similar to the hallucinogenic LSD. However, in large doses, it can cause heart failure.Tenth-grader Joey Tredor was one of the six high school students at the prevention council meeting. He's in favor of effective drug abuse education.
"One teacher compared a person's life to a tree and showed how drug abuse cuts off certain limbs," he said. "That stuck with me."
The prevention council is scheduled to meet again on Dec. 15.
Link: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=163...1&PAG=461&rfi=9 (http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1635&dept_id=180075&newsid=13507001&PAG=461&rfi=9)
COLCHESTER - The youth services bureau has formed a local prevention council that is looking at ways to stop teens from abusing alcohol and drugs.
The council, which began meeting in October, is looking at various drug and alcohol prevention courses. The courses would run for eight to twelve weeks and would probably be held during school hours, which means it would need approval from the board of education.
Valerie Geato, director of youth services, said that at a budget hearing this spring, a parent asked her if the schools could do more to teach students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. The parent then met with Geato and Karen Loiselle, who was curriculum director at the time, and they decided to form a council to discuss the issue.
"We wanted to have a separate group dedicated to reducing or eliminating illegal drug use in young people," she said. "We have about nine people so far, and are still accepting members."
Geato also said that in the past she had tried to put together groups with a similar mission, but could not find enough interested people.
Events in recent years may have raised awareness of the drug issue. A variety of new drugs, such as Ecstasy, have become increasingly popular among young people in the past decade. Locally, the number of drug-related expulsions has gone up dramatically in the past few years. The problem has even reached the middle school, where four students were expelled for dealing drugs last year. School officials say the school resource officer, who began visiting schools in 2001, has helped them find and punish more drug dealers by encouraging students to report peers who are doing drugs, which accounts for the increase in expulsions.
Currently students learn about the dangers of drugs through the DARE (drug abuse resistance education) program which is presented by local police to youngsters in elementary school. They also learn about drugs in fifth grade, but the subject isn't covered again until tenth grade health class.
Geato's proposal is for a more intensive program which would be taught to middle school students in sixth or seventh grade. That age is considered the best time to educate them on the issue, since most students who do drugs start in high school.
Everyone at the meeting agreed that students need more education about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. But there were concerns about the logistics.
"Some teachers are afraid to give up instruction time," said Scott Cohn, a parent. "They're on tight schedules."
Maddalena Scrivano, a teacher at William J. Johnston Middle School, said there's not enough time for all the subjects being taught now.
"The reading program in seventh grade was cut in half, and half the students did poorly in reading," she said. "More instruction is truly needed, but we don't know where to put it. We can't fit additional programs into the schedule."
Other possible options include holding the drug prevention classes at the Youth Center after school, or having a one-time assembly type of program with follow-up programs throughout the school year.
In March, Bacon Academy's student newspaper, the Bacon Courier, reported that, according to a random survey of high school seniors, alcohol was the most popular drug. Seventy percent of those surveyed said they had used it. Marijuana was second most popular, with 46 percent of the survey group admitting they had gotten stoned.
A new drug that has become popular is dextromethorphan, or DXM, the Bacon Courier said, and 41 percent of the survey group had tried it, making it almost as popular as marijuana. DXM is found in cough or cold medicine pills and cough syrup, and its effects are similar to the hallucinogenic LSD. However, in large doses, it can cause heart failure.Tenth-grader Joey Tredor was one of the six high school students at the prevention council meeting. He's in favor of effective drug abuse education.
"One teacher compared a person's life to a tree and showed how drug abuse cuts off certain limbs," he said. "That stuck with me."
The prevention council is scheduled to meet again on Dec. 15.
Link: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=163...1&PAG=461&rfi=9 (http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1635&dept_id=180075&newsid=13507001&PAG=461&rfi=9)