Deirdre emailed me a link to an article about a substance abuse seminar in a high school Wednesday night. Here are the first few paragraphs:
Substance abuse seminar plays to empty house
They looked like any other high school students, but the four teenagers scheduled to speak at Douglas High School Wednesday night were there to recount their journey into - and out of - substance abuse.
The young speakers, who had all abused methamphetamine, alcohol, cocaine and other drugs, freely volunteered advice to parents on how to detect the warning signs of a child slipping into a life of abuse.
Unfortunately, no parents were there to hear it....
Douglas counselor Dori Draper said that parents have to open their eyes to what their children are doing.
"Parents don't want to believe their kids are using," she said.
After I read the story, I went to the home page of the newspaper to see where the high school was located (the Reno, Nev., area) and discovered that the site keeps track of its most viewed articles. I found it ironic that leading the list was:
1. Underage drinking numbers on the rise
Among some the stats in that article, according to the local Partnership of Community Resources, were:
- On a typical Friday or Saturday night, one in seven drivers is under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
- Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15-20-year-olds. More than 36 percent of the accidents are alcohol- or drug-related.
- Youth alcohol-related fatalities have increased every year since 1997.
- More than one-third of America's alcoholics are under the legal drinking age.
- Younger drinkers may become alcoholic in six months to three years vs. the 10-15 year pattern for adults.
The article included information about a town hall meeting called "Underage Drinking - What's the Big Deal?" that will be held in a local church on March 28. It will be interesting to see how many parents show up — not only there, but nationally. Town hall meetings on teen drinking will, in fact, be held all across the country on Tuesday night. You can find one near you by clicking here.
The location of the meeting that no one attended really didn't matter, of course, it could have been Anytown, U.S.A. In fact, it reminded me of a program Deirdre organized a few years ago at the library. Rather then hit people over the head with a heavy message, she was going to show a couple of movies that dealt with substance abuse, followed by discussion. The first was a short film called Dying High that was shot locally and had some graphic recreations of teens in local ER rooms following accidents and ODs. There were also interviews with parents and survivors. The second film was Al Franken's Stuart Saves His Family, a lighthearted satire of addiction and recovery.
No one came to that event either. Makes one think there may be an elephant on Main St.