York Town News
Starting early and staying aware to stop drug abuse
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - When it comes to keeping children and teens healthy, safe and free from drug and alcohol abuse, the key is to start the discussions early and to keep talking.That was part of the message educators from the York School Department shared last Wednesday, Feb. 7, in a presentation on drug and alcohol prevention and health programs for local students.
At the start of the School Committee's meeting, Curriculum Coordinator Dr. Maryann Minard was joined by Coastal Ridge Elementary School Counselor Kathy Welch, York High School Wellness Counselor Gina Brodsky, School Resource Officer Scott Cogger and others to discuss such programs as bullying prevention and DARE, as well as ways parents can help keep their children safe.
The focus of the program is comprehensive, those involved explained, with connections being fostered across grade levels. The goal is to ensure children have the tools to make good choices - whether those choices involve drugs, alcohol or tobacco - or putting personal information out on the internet.
Brodsky updated the board on the way the schools use the Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey (MYDAUS), which is administered every two years beginning in grade 6.
"What we've really tried to do is focus more on the results of those surveys and use that information to help shape what we do," she said of the efforts to coordinate drug and alcohol awareness in grades K through 12.
A drug awareness evening planned is being planned for April 26 to allow the community and parents to become more involved, she noted.
"We can't have a casual attitude toward drinking and drugging and look at it as a right of passage," she said, adding that if that is the attitude put forward by adults, "We're going to get ourselves into a lot of trouble."
Brodsky also cautioned the School Committee and parents to be aware of what their children and teens are doing when they're going out on the town - or putting information out on the internet.
"I really have not come up with one positive thing that has come out of My Space," she said of one online forum that allows individuals to communicate and share personal information via the internet. "It is scary for our kids that don't have the proper filters in their brains and in their social development."
School Committee Vice Chairman Marilyn Zotos praised Cogger, for one, for his efforts to be a resource to parents on those issues at the middle school level.
Brodsky said that while there is certainly more work to be done, she is proud of the effort in the schools with coordination across all levels.
At Coastal Ridge, for example, programs with the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence and other grant-funded activities coincide with the work of the Civil Rights Team, a group of students committed to keeping CRES safe and bully-free.
"I could speak a long time about the Civil Rights Team," Welch said. "It is very dear to my heart."
This year, she noted, so many children wanted to be part of the Civil Rights Team that the school created two Action Teams to allow for more participation.
DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is also offered at the elementary and middle school levels. Answering question from the School Committee on DARE, Minard noted that no single program is the answer to all the issues but DARE is one element of a comprehensive health education and drug and alcohol awareness effort serving grades K through 12.
York Police Capt. Kevin LeConte noted that the funding for York's DARE program is donated and that the program has been in place locally since 1983 and reviewed every year for revisions and improvements.
Cogger said that after 20 years with the York Police Department - with 16 of those including service in the schools - alcohol remains a problem for children, while smoking has declined recently. Looking at York in general, he said, heroine is a problem and use of methamphetamine is beginning to surface in the area.
Brodsky pointed out that the schools cannot do it all, and urged parents to pay close attention to what their children are doing with their time and money, prompting School Committee Chairwoman Patty Hymanson to ask for suggestions of signs of trouble that parents should watch for in their children.
Changes in interests, clothing styles, eating habits, sleep patterns and physical appearance are all possible indicators of problems, Brodsky said, adding, "A change in peer group is huge."
The main causes of drug abuse are anxiety, boredom and extra income, she said.
"If you give your kids $20 to go see a movie, ask about the movie," she said, adding, "We have to monitor where our kids are getting their money and how it's being spent."
LeConte agreed.
"Being a parent isn't always an easy job," he said. "…Stay involved, stay responsible, stay focused, and it works. And we'll be there to help any time we can."
In other business, the board continued to analyze the state's push for consolidation of school districts. See next week's edition of The Independent for more on the School Committee and Board of Selectmen discussions on the legislative timeline for possible consolidation and its local implications.
