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Helping Students Make Healthy
Decisions
For North Carolina drug prevention specialist Mina Cook, it’s
all about a paradigm shift “where kids think it’s cool to lead a
healthy life.” A certified substance abuse prevention specialist
with Unlimited Success, a program serving 15 counties in the
state, Cook is excited about the changing perception of
prevention education.
“In the past we used to drive around randomly to places where we
could talk to groups of kids about how bad drugs were. We didn’t
use evidence based prevention methods.” Now, said Cook,
specialists search out youth who are most at-risk and target
prevention plans. “We work with school personnel identifying
these children, and we work with the schools to help them create
the skills these kids need to make healthy and safe decisions.
They could be social skills, mood management, empathy and even
reading skills. Kids need to feel successful and need to feel
connected to their schools.”
Unlimited Success, is a division of Partnership for a Drug Free
NC, Inc. (www.drugfreenc.org),
and is one of a handful of substance abuse prevention programs
in the nation that spans the k-12 years in the school system.
Its aim is early intervention and prevention and seeks to
address students on substance abuse issues long before high
school. It is done cooperatively with teachers and other school
personnel. It seeks to enhance a positive school culture.
“Schools need to be caring, achieving and safe places where
students understand what respect is all about,” said Cook.
The ultimate goal is to help students build resiliency to the
challenges of growing up in less than perfect situations. “It
not only addresses substance abuse but also other risky
behaviors like school failure, court involvement, school
suspension, truancy and violence,” said Jane Williams, vice
president of Unlimited Success at PDFNC. “It’s all about
supporting happy, healthy and successful lives.”
Drug prevention and intervention should help kids develop
self-esteem and inner strength, says Cook. A prevention
specialist might, for instance, suggest a book like A Bad
Case of Stripes to a third grade teacher. In the book
Camilla Cream likes lima beans but is afraid to eat them because
other kids will make fun of her food choices. Because she has
altered herself to fit in with her peers she has developed a
“bad case of stripes” on her body. Then a kindly old woman stops
at the door and suggests that Camilla stick to her “convictions”
and eat some lima beans. Her case of stripes soon disappears and
she is cured.
Random Drug Testing in Forsyth County
Another type of intervention program that is being employed in
Forsyth County high schools is drug and steroid testing. “Drug
testing is just one piece of an effective program,” noted Cook.
The test covers alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines,
opiates, barbiturates and benzodiazepines. When it comes to
medically prescribed drugs like Adderall, commonly used for
treating attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
teens are excused when they test positive. But those who show
evidence of a prescription drug like this and have no medical
records to back up their intake will see a student assessment
referral specialist who will work confidentially with the
student and the student’s family. (See the article on
Generation Rx.) The teenager will
be offered help through counselors at PDFNC, Inc. If the student
successfully completes this intervention program, no one at the
school-- including the principal, a coach or club advisor is
informed of the test results, noted Cook. She is the program
coordinator for the “It’s My Call” and “It’s Our Call” drug
testing intervention program for Forsyth County Schools.
Students can voluntarily sign up to be drug tested (It’s My
Call), or, if they are involved in extracurricular activities –
they are required to make themselves available for random
testing (It’s Our Call) done by the school system. It is not
requirement for all students to participate in random drug
testing.
“In a one month period, the program tests around 30% of the
students who are in either It’s My Call or It’s Our Call,” says
Cook. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools System was one of
the first 5 or 6 school systems in the country to employ drug
testing in 1997, notes Bert Wood, president and CEO of PDFNC,
Inc., and there is evidence to show that it works. “The county
is 25 to 30% below the state and national average for marijuana
use,” he notes. Marijuana is the most common drug abused by
teenagers. It is observable in test specimens for up to 30 days
after each use, says Leshaun Southerland who is a student
assessment referral specialist with Forsyth County. She notes
that prescription drugs like Adderall are detectable for 12
hours after use.
In October of 2005, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools
received a Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and
U.S. Department of Education Grant to support the “It’s My
Call/It’s Our Call” random student drug testing program.
Research has demonstrated that such programs serve as a
deterrent to adolescent substance abuse. The program was
initially piloted at Carver High School and expanded as a
system-wide initiative in 1998. The grant provides two
positions, a program coordinator and an assessment/referral
specialist to work full-time with high school students and
program advisors involved in SAVE, SADD, (Students Against
Violence Everywhere, Students Against Destructive Decisions) and
other similar student-led clubs, as well as a contact for
families who will benefit from substance abuse-related services
in the district. The project has been the result of a
collaborative effort by the school leaders, the Office of the
Sheriff, and PDFNC and its prevention division, Unlimited
Success.
“The ‘It’s My Call/It’s Our Call’ program has already
demonstrated its effectiveness. The original intention of the
program was to give our students another way to say no. Since
the 2000-2001 year, we have witnessed a steady decline in
students testing positive for alcohol and other drugs,” said Dr.
Don Martin, superintendent of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County
Schools. “This grant gives our district the opportunity to
expand an already established program into a great program and
will connect even more intensely with students and families.”
This spring this school system will be pioneering in another
field – steroid testing. As only the second school system in the
nation to test for steroids, high school coaches are being
prepared to educate student athletes about the negative effects
of steroid use. Its use has been associated with increased risk
of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, heart attacks, stroke, a weakening of
the immune system, liver damage and cancer. Not to mention the
all important effects on appearance which teenagers may
especially take to heart -- irreversible baldness, cysts and
acne and permanently stunted bone growth.
The U.S. Supreme Court broadened the authority of public schools
to test for illegal drugs in 2002, says the Office of National
Drug Control Policy (http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/drug_testing/foreword.html).
It allowed random drug tests for all middle and high school
students participating in competitive extracurricular
activities. Previously, the policy covered only student
athletes.
The Next
Step
Editor: Leanne
Murray
Writer: Rose Walsh
Design: Virginia Hart
Partnership for a Drug-Free
NC
665 W. Fourth Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
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