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A change in attitude?

Tolerance of drug and alcohol abuse amongst Whistler youth appears to be declining. Clare Ogilvie investigates how communication and accountability are keys to helping youth stay on track.

By Clare Ogilvie

Some Whistler parents want to sound an alarm bell over the use of drugs and alcohol by the community’s youth.

“…So many in this town for so long have got the blinders on and they think that it is not happening here,” said one mom who doesn’t want her name used to protect the identity of her child.

“But there are parties every weekend. Kids are staying out all night and many parents don’t even know whom their kids are supposed to be staying with. It’s time for us to wake up.

“I believe these kids need our help and guidance, our patience and a lot more supervision and not our judgment.”

According to the most recent Whistler statistics on youth, drugs, sex and alcohol, there is nothing to suggest that the community’s youth are any different from other kids in B.C. or across Canada. (See sidebar).

But for some parents the numbers just aren’t that important. It’s as if the town has reached a tipping point and as a community people are unprepared to put up with this behaviour.

Bev Oakley, principal of Whistler Secondary, believes she is witnessing that change first hand.

“I think from a health and safety standpoint the attitude of the community toward drug use by youth has changed quite a lot, just as we have seen a change in attitude toward wearing seat belts or helmets,” said Oakley. “There used to be a blind eye turned to drinking and marijuana use, but with more information about the profound health effects that these substances are having on our youth this attitude is changing.”

The drugs on offer today, including marijuana, are far more powerful than they were 20 or so years ago and tend to be laced with a variety of other substances that can be dangerous or highly addictive. Some of the latest statistics indicate that as much as 25 per cent of the ecstasy available for sale is now laced with methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant.

“I think that message is slowly getting out there that this represents a significant danger to our youth,” said Oakley.

“The community as a whole seems to be evolving to a point of lower tolerance of teen drug use as parents become more educated about the dangers of the drugs available today.”

Parental fear regarding the possible consequences to their children is very real. Indeed there was even a suggestion by some parents at a PAC meeting in 2005 to bring sniffer dogs in as a deterrent to bringing drugs onto school property. (The majority of parents, however, did not support the idea.)

At a recent meeting parents also heard the results of a questionnaire done at the school by an outside organization. It showed that 108 out of 200 students that answered the questionnaire indicated that they would like to see drugs removed from the school entirely.

“That is significant,” said Oakley, adding that deep school pride lay at the heart of the response.

“A significant number of our students, over half, don’t want drugs in the school. That is something we can really work with. Students are feeling they don’t want drugs at the school, and the administration, the district, the RCMP, everybody is on board with that.”

Oakley said there is a zero tolerance policy toward drug and alcohol use on school grounds and during school hours. Schools are meant to be drug-free zones and anyone found in possession or under the influence of drugs or alcohol will be suspended by the school board. All students receive information in both Grade 8 and Grade 10 on the dangers inherent with drug and alcohol use to help them make good decisions. There is also a drug and alcohol counsellor at the school for students to access if they have questions or concerns, and parents are always involved where appropriate.

“We firmly believe that the parents and the school are partners and we want to make sure we are sharing information for the safety and health of the students; their children,” said Oakley.

Marilyn Crichton, chair of the high school PAC, declined to comment on the issue since it has not been raised at a meeting.

“The issue hasn’t come before the PAC and there is always going to be societal issues and our high school does provide planning and courses and speakers on drug use, drug abuse and on prevention.”

Oakley and the RCMP want youth and adults alike to alert them to any concerns about drug and alcohol use, and any information shared can be on an anonymous basis.

“There are a lot of people who think we know things, but we might not,” said RCMP Cpl. Jeff Levine.

“If we know someone is dealing drugs in the school we are just not going to let that go, absolutely not. We are definitely going to follow that up. Within this detachment youth is a priority.

“So if parents or students would like to provide information to the police they can go through Crimestoppers (1-800-222-TIPS), it is anonymous, or talk to one of us.”

Levine said it is very rare for the police to be called out to deal with youth abusing drugs and alcohol in the community. He said police are working hard to form relationships with youth so that if they are in trouble or need advice they are comfortable calling for help.

“…Our job is not just to catch (youth) for the crime. In fact we would much sooner prevent the crime and prevent some of the kids from going down the path of drug and alcohol dependencies. If we can do that and make sure these kids develop into good members of the community that is the goal.”

Growing up in a resort can offer many mixed messages to local youth since the world is invited to party here and sometimes drinking to excess is part of the experience.

“It is a balancing act,” said Whistler Councillor Ralph Forsyth, who is also chair of the public relations and outreach committee for Whistler for Youth.

“We are not Las Vegas and we are not inviting people here to indulge their vices, and it goes from the escort services to the drug use in school. We might be in jeopardy of crossing the line and that might be the feeling in the community. So we need to reassert what our values are. We are inviting people here for a healthy active lifestyle... We want you to come here and have the time of your life and if that involves having a few drinks fine, and people will find their limit on that, but when it crosses the line then that is when we have to say enough is enough.”

That’s important, said Forsyth, because Whistler’s youth often view the young adults who come here as cool and if drinking and drug use falls into being cool then some kids may copy them.

WFY has adopted two main strategies to deal with the concerns around drugs and alcohol: Stay On Track and the Second Step Parenting Program. (To find out more about when the next Second Step program will run go to www.mywcss.org).

Stay On Track is a public awareness program designed to support healthy development of children and youth and the Second Step Program is designed to give parents new tools to deal with their kids.

Forsyth believes one of the most powerful ways to deal with drug and alcohol abuse in youth is for every community member to take a stand on values.

“It is when each and every one of us says we have had enough,” he said.

And Forsyth believes parents need to get involved with their kids in sport, at school, and at home.

“Kids who eat dinner five times a week with family are 10 times less likely to get involved with drugs and alcohol,” he said.

That advice is echoed by Greg McDonnell, youth outreach worker supervisor for Whistler Community Services Society.

“I think what is really important is that parents have to increase communication with their kids and take accountability,” he said, adding that families should start the pattern for communication in elementary school.

“I think a lot of parents are being very naïve and oblivious to the behaviour and people are quickly casting the blame on the kids, and I think parents need to take some more accountability for their kids.”

Sometimes, said McDonnell, the lack of communication is a result of fear on the part of parents about who their teens are.

“I know it can be a little alien sometimes and (youths) can be viewed as little aliens and parents may want to push them away, but you can’t do it,” he said.

“You’ve got to wrap them in and tell them you love them and hug them and accept them, accept the weird music they listen to, accept that it is natural to want to post a blog.”

McDonnell encourages parents to view today’s youth with curiosity rather than judging them. He would like parents to ask lots of questions and learn about what their kids are up to and what they like and don’t like.

“That will open the potential for positives rather than perpetuating all the negatives that adults see in kids these days,” he said.

And parents should be connecting with the parents of their kid’s friends. That connectivity sends a strong message to youth that their community cares about them and is interested in knowing where they are and what they are doing.

“We do seem to be in this place where there is a real reality check in our generation,” said McDonnell.

“There does seem to be a tipping point of behaviours for the new generation that we are having a very difficult time comprehending the realities of.”

Survey results suggest strong community

 

The survey of Whistler youth done in May and June of 2004 was carried out by the Communities That Care project, an evidence-based program developed in the U.S. to help communities build positive, healthy futures for their youth.

It revealed that over two-thirds of the youths from Grade 6 to Grade 12 have used alcohol in their lifetime.

Almost half reported drinking in the 30 days prior to the May 2004 survey date and almost a quarter reported smoking dope in the same period.

The survey also found that 59 per cent of youths in Grade 11 had come to school drunk or high at least once in the previous year. Overall 24.8 per cent of surveyed students from Whistler had done the same thing.

The survey also found a significant increase in drug and alcohol use from the lower grades to Grade 9.

In Grade 6, 10.2 per cent of youths said they had used alcohol in the previous month to the survey. In Grade 9 that number jumped to 43.2 per cent. In Grade 11 it went up to 84.2 per cent and then fell to 82.1 per cent in Grade 12.

Marijuana use jumped to 15.9 per cent for use in the previous month in Grade 9 from 3.4 per cent use in Grade 8. Its use peaked in Grade 11 at 51.3 per cent.

The survey also found students felt there was a high community connection and strong family connections. There was also low use of club drugs, virtually no violence, and no reflection of antisocial behaviour like vehicle thefts. These indicators are generally considered highlights of a very strong community.

Whistler For Youth carried out another survey in the spring of 2006, but the results have not been released to the public. However, WFY board member Don Brett said the new survey shows little change.

In 2003 The McCreary Centre Society carried out a survey in 1,500 Grade 7 to 12 classrooms in B.C. and found that at age 17 about 78 per cent of youths had tried alcohol. Of those who had tried alcohol about 46 per cent of boys and 43 per cent of girls had done some binge drinking in the previous month. Marijuana use was about 37 per cent. In 1992 the Centre found that only about 25 per cent of youths reported using dope.



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