`safety Net' In Budget Designed To Hold Few

Alan Hadvance

Monday, January 21, 2002 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 10A 





Our children are consuming drugs in epidemic proportions. Violence in our
schools is escalating. Yet when I spoke with a state representative about the
problem, he said, ``There is no drug problem in our district - maybe in others
but not here.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As far as the kids in his district, he advocated that they should have to
say the Pledge of Allegiance. I also asked a school superintendent why he
turned down an offer to have drug-sniffing dogs brought into the school. He
said, ``We don't have a problem here; we proved that last year when we brought
in the dogs and found nothing.'' Less than 30 days later it was discovered
during a drug bust in a neighboring community that 30 of his students were
consumers of the deadly substances. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Three years ago I attended a task-force meeting set up by drug prevention
experts in our community. I suggested tackling one school at a time and
getting them drug free. I was told that ``it can't be done that way. The other
schools would get mad.'' Instead, the task force invested their time and our
money into a show at First Union Arena. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 During the course of my work in the community, I have met kids who went on
to die from drug use. I have seen more in greater numbers drop out of school,
get arrested and have visit~ed a few in jail. The abundant domestic violence
in our area can be traced back to kids and early drug use. Many of these kids
come from good homes, it was just the fact that they were exposed to drugs at
an early age that lead to their demise. The majority of addicts I counseled
began using around the age of 12. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In this war against drugs I have met two people who were willing to give
their lives in this fight to protect our children from a life of substance
abuse. Police officer Mike Rutkowski of the Nanticoke police has on numerous
occasions been able to identify those who push drugs on our kids. Police
officer Carrie Gula of the Exeter police not only worked to protect our kids
from drug use, but involved herself with our kids by participating in programs
like Police Athletic League and on her own time. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 What do these two officers have in common? Both were fired from their
positions by their respective community boards. Meanwhile our kids are
strolling into school with guns. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 How much longer do they have to cry out before we take some real action?
Prevention has its place. But if you want to stop kids from the horrors that
come with drug use we need to develop interventions. It is time to ask
ourselves as a community, do we really want to stop drug use amongst our kids?
Our words say that we do. But what do our actions say? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Al Rende &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Alden &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Youth On Drugs: It's Time To Confront The Ugly Reality In Our Community