Educating Parents About Drugs

Parents exist, among other reasons, to teach children to resist the temptation to do things that will hurt them. Drugs tempt many youngsters, but how many parents know enough about the substances, the paraphernalia or the symptoms to issue the warning? Not nearly enough.

Mothers and fathers can get help Tuesday evening at a novel “Parent Drug Alert” program held at eight Los Angeles public junior high schools sponsored by the United Teachers Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Los Angeles County School Nurses and the Parents and Teachers associations.

Parents will be briefed on how to recognize marijuana, cocaine and other illegal drugs--information that could come in handy if a foreign substance falls from a youngster’s pocket or knapsack.

Parents will get an idea of why a youngster may turn to drugs and what to look for, such as changes in behavior. And they will learn how to help their children decide to stay away from drugs.

Many parents believe that it can’t happen to their sons or daughters. They are wrong. Drug use is alarmingly high. Cocaine is gaining ground, and the experimenters are getting younger and younger. It is common for youngsters to be offered drugs on campuses, according to school authorities, in affluent as well as low-income areas.

To help young people resist, the school district provides drug education at every level, including the respected DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program developed by the Los Angeles Police Department and offered in all elementary schools and half the junior highs.

To enlist mothers and fathers, drug-alert sessions will be held at Fleming, South Gate, Mann, Webster, Stevenson, King, Parkman and Sepulveda--a junior high school in every region of the district. Police officers, county sheriff’s deputies, school nurses and professional athletes will participate in the free sessions; they will last one hour and be open to all parents, including new parents.

No single program will wipe out drugs, but realistic education for youngsters and their parents can reduce the abuse. The “Parent Drug Alert” program, an acknowledgment that schools must do more than teach the basics, belongs on every family’s calendar.