FCD Works with New Orleans Schools

1/17/2005

From the Times-Picayune, New Orleans LA:

Sobering Facts

Local schools team up with Freedom from Chemical Dependency and Safe Teens New Orleans to share information on alcohol abuse and promote drug-free ways of having fun.

By Barri Bronston, Staff Writer

Warn kids that they could die from overindulging in alcohol, and chances are they will laugh. Inform them of the damage that excessive drinking can do to the brain, and they just may listen.

That was the reaction of students and parents at Metairie Park Country Day School last fall when the nonprofit group Freedom from Chemical Dependency Educational Services came to the school for an intensive four-day workshop.

"They got real facts about what alcohol does to your brain," said Leigh Collins, Country Day's upper school guidance counselor. "We have some smart kids and some ambitious kids, and they are determined to be successful. What they heard scared them but in a positive way."

Country Day is no different from any other school -- locally and nationally, public and private -- when it comes to the problem of underage drinking. But concerned about issues such as unsupervised parties and drinking and driving, school officials decided to attack the problem head-on by bringing in an organization whose facilitators are all recovering addicts.

FCD returns this week to conduct a three-day workshop for middle and high school students at Louise S. McGehee School, where guidance counselor Nancy Timm has been using lessons from the program in her Life Skills classes.

"The girls seem to be sincerely interested in examining their own attitudes and beliefs about underage drinking," she said.

As part of the program, FCD and McGehee are joining with Safe Teens New Orleans on Thursday to sponsor a community forum titled "Keeping Your Teenager Safe -- Tools for Preventing and Addressing Teenage Alcohol and Drug Use." The forum, which is open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. at the McGehee Auditorium, 2343 Prytania St.

The forum will address many of the same issues covered in FCD's school-based programs -- tips regarding teenage parties, the dangers of drinking and driving, early warning signs of a teen headed for trouble, what makes adolescents so vulnerable.

The goal is to help parents understand the role they play in keeping their children drug-free, as well as provide them with the latest facts on the physiological and psychological effects of drug and alcohol use.

"One thing we really have to work on is educating parents," said Susan Ginsberg, a Country Day parent and spokeswoman for Safe Teens New Orleans, a nonprofit parents group that provides health and legal information related to teenage alcohol and drug use. "A lot of parents will say, 'Well, I did it as a kid and I'm fine,' or, 'It's OK as long as they drink at home.' These are the kinds of ideas we have to start changing in parents' minds."

The Massachusetts-based FCD is in its 25th year of providing substance abuse prevention education to schools and colleges around the world. Initially geared to families of alcoholics, the program soon expanded to serve young people of all backgrounds.

FCD is based on the premise that such education should be approached from a health perspective and part of a long-term, ongoing dialogue at home and in school. Because FCD's health educators are all in recovery themselves, both students and parents tend to listen to their messages -- and take what they have to say seriously.

"The program was founded on the idea that students will listen to people who have had experience with drugs and alcohol rather than those whose message is to 'just say no,' " said Amy Smack, an FCD spokeswoman. "These are credible sources who speak from the heart."

They explore such issues as peer pressure and parties, but they also talk about the connection between substance use and adolescent brain development.

Research indicates that the human brain does not finish developing until a person is in his or her early 20s, and that teen-age substance use can cloud judgment, interfere with social skills and hurt academic performance.

The younger students are when they begin drinking, Smack says, the more likely they are to develop a drinking problem. Those with a family history of substance abuse are even more at risk.

"That very first drink for a student who has a family history is very different from that of another student," she said. "They may instantly like the experience. It becomes habit-forming, and they may feel that the only way to have a good time is to use this substance."

The FCD program aims to create a safe environment for students to ask questions, receive answers, and in the process, learn to make better choices. Educators use role-playing, discussions and exercises to teach such lessons as peer refusal and intervention skills, the short- and long-term consequences of substance use and ways to have fun without alcohol and drugs.

Seth Satterlee, a senior at Country Day, said the FCD educators who visited his school last fall were able to establish an atmosphere of trust that allowed students to talk openly about their own experiences.

"They did a good job," he said. "They were both very helpful and seemed to relate well to the situation of the students. I know a lot of them took something away from the conversations."

That the educators shared their own experiences with drugs and alcohol made the program that much more effective, said Blake Johnston, a sophomore.

"It reinforced my thoughts about how the effects of drugs and alcohol are lasting, and they can cause people to miss out on big opportunities," she said.

Blake said she has not allowed peer pressure to influence her to use substances, but knows first-hand the kind of impact it has had on others.

"I do think one of the reasons people drink and do drugs is to fit in with the crowd, even if it is going against what they believe," she said. "I also think many people are under the impression that the only way to have a good time is to use alcohol or drugs."

Those are messages that are gradually being dispelled at Country Day, said Collins, who credits the FCD program as well as the determination of parents and administrators to change the climate of the school.

"It has made a huge difference in our school community in terms of opening up communications," she said. "(The program) gives you a starting point. They give you the facts and they answer your questions, so that parents can talk about it with their kids and teachers can talk about it with their students. I think the kids now realize the dangers in a very realistic way."

Collins said she has seen some students stop drinking altogether, while others have scaled back or are beginning to think more about it. Those who don't drink at all are gaining more acceptance from their peers when they might have otherwise been shunned or considered nerds.

As part of the program, a school-based substance abuse prevention committee is coming up with what the FCD refers to as "alternative highs," fun activities that don't include drugs and alcohol and that typically involve parents. Among the suggestions were weekend basketball tournaments, camping and fishing trips and construction projects.

"A lot of parents committed to having nights where they stay home with the kids and don't drink themselves," Collins said. "We want to model that adults can also have fun without alcohol."

Staff writer Barri Bronston can be reached at bbronston@timespicayune.com or at (504) 826-3448.