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Fremont Prevention Team
Marlene Peterson, project coordinator, moderates the first meeting of the Fremont Prevention Team at Fremont Middle School. Students are chosen by their peers to join the drug prevention-minded team.
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ENLARGE
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List of don’ts
A student makes a list of things to watch out for during the first meeting of the Fremont Prevention Team at Fremont Middle School in Roseburg.
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ENLARGE
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A father's message
Terry Day is the father of Baily Day who died of an overdose of Methadone. Day has made shirts, hats and bumper stickers memorializing his son and carring messages urging kids to stay away from drugs.
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<I>Editor’s Note — Today’s story on drug abuse prevention efforts among teens concludes a four-day series examining the methamphetamine problem in Douglas County.
It wouldn’t have been possible without a candid account of the life of a meth addict and extensive interviews with the district attorney’s office and law enforcement officers, who allowed us to photograph the remnants of a meth lab. Reporter Christian Bringhurst, whose beat includes crime reporting, conceived the idea of the series after hearing about the drug’s involvement in so many local crimes. He spent nearly three months interviewing and writing the series, while also reporting stories for the daily editions.
We’re interested in your thoughts on the series. Feel free to e-mail your comments to <a href="mailto:newsdesk@newsreview.info " class="link">newsdesk@newsreview.info </a>
or mail them to The News-Review, P.O. Box 1248, Roseburg, OR 97470.
— City Editor Vicki Menard</I>
<hr>
It wouldn’t have been possible without a candid account of the life of a meth addict and extensive interviews with the district attorney’s office and law enforcement officers, who allowed us to photograph the remnants of a meth lab. Reporter Christian Bringhurst, whose beat includes crime reporting, conceived the idea of the series after hearing about the drug’s involvement in so many local crimes. He spent nearly three months interviewing and writing the series, while also reporting stories for the daily editions.
We’re interested in your thoughts on the series. Feel free to e-mail your comments to <a href="mailto:newsdesk@newsreview.info " class="link">newsdesk@newsreview.info </a>
or mail them to The News-Review, P.O. Box 1248, Roseburg, OR 97470.
— City Editor Vicki Menard</I>
<hr>
Growing up, children are taught to "just say no" to drugs. They learn that drugs are bad, that they can kill and that only losers use them. These messages are branded in their brains before they're old enough to host their first slumber party or use the oven without supervision.
But some community members contend children aren't learning enough. They say young people don't know why drugs are bad or how they can affect the body.
According to the 2001 results of the Oregon Healthy Teens Survey, which was completed by roughly 5,000 high school students, drug use is a problem. According to the report, 48 percent, or 2,365 students, admitted to getting drunk for the first time between the ages of 9 and 17. Between these same ages, 39 percent, or 1,929 students, reported trying marijuana for the first time.
Methamphetamine use, however, is low. More commonly used by adults, only 5 percent, or 287 high school students, said they had experimented with the substance.
The Baily Day Foundation and the prevention teams from Joseph Lane and Fremont middle schools in Roseburg, though, are determined to lower the statistics. By setting kids straight on what drugs are and what effects they can have, they're hoping students will become better equipped to make informed choices.
"Kids need to know what to expect and the long-term effects. They need to know why," said Terry Day of Roseburg, organizer of the Baily Day Foundation. "Everyone is ignoring the problem. We need to educate."
<b>BAILY DAY FOUNDATION</b>
Day admits he wasn't aware of the escalating drug problem among teens -- until it took his child's life last February.
At that time, his 17-year old son Baily, a junior at Roseburg High School, was sleeping over at a friend's house. In the evening, he took two tablets of methadone he had recently purchased at a Roseburg High School basketball game. By morning, he was dead.
"My son had asked his friends, 'You don't think I'll die do you?'" Terry said. "He then went to sleep and never woke up. If people knew the symptoms of what to look for, this would never have happened."
Terry said his son was a good kid, someone who never dabbled with drugs until that night. And even then, he was lured into thinking methadone was safe because it was readily prescribed and didn't have the stigma of illegal drugs. Traditionally, methadone is used to treat heroin addiction.
But some community members contend children aren't learning enough. They say young people don't know why drugs are bad or how they can affect the body.
According to the 2001 results of the Oregon Healthy Teens Survey, which was completed by roughly 5,000 high school students, drug use is a problem. According to the report, 48 percent, or 2,365 students, admitted to getting drunk for the first time between the ages of 9 and 17. Between these same ages, 39 percent, or 1,929 students, reported trying marijuana for the first time.
Methamphetamine use, however, is low. More commonly used by adults, only 5 percent, or 287 high school students, said they had experimented with the substance.
The Baily Day Foundation and the prevention teams from Joseph Lane and Fremont middle schools in Roseburg, though, are determined to lower the statistics. By setting kids straight on what drugs are and what effects they can have, they're hoping students will become better equipped to make informed choices.
"Kids need to know what to expect and the long-term effects. They need to know why," said Terry Day of Roseburg, organizer of the Baily Day Foundation. "Everyone is ignoring the problem. We need to educate."
<b>BAILY DAY FOUNDATION</b>
Day admits he wasn't aware of the escalating drug problem among teens -- until it took his child's life last February.
At that time, his 17-year old son Baily, a junior at Roseburg High School, was sleeping over at a friend's house. In the evening, he took two tablets of methadone he had recently purchased at a Roseburg High School basketball game. By morning, he was dead.
"My son had asked his friends, 'You don't think I'll die do you?'" Terry said. "He then went to sleep and never woke up. If people knew the symptoms of what to look for, this would never have happened."
Terry said his son was a good kid, someone who never dabbled with drugs until that night. And even then, he was lured into thinking methadone was safe because it was readily prescribed and didn't have the stigma of illegal drugs. Traditionally, methadone is used to treat heroin addiction.
Drug prevention, education programs
The following is a partial list of local drug prevention and education organizations:
<b>•</b>Baily Day Foundation — <a href="http://www.bailydayfoundation.com" class="link" target="_blank">www.bailydayfoundation.com</a> <b>•</b>The Oregon Partnership — <a href="http://www.orpartnership.org" class="link" target="_blank">www.orpartnership.org</a> — helpline: (800)-923-HELP; youthline: (877) 553-TEEN <b>•</b>The American Council for Drug Education — <a href="http://www.acde.org" class="link" target="_blank">www.acde.org</a>; (800) 488-DRUG <b>•</b>Joseph Lane/ John C. Fremont Middle School Prevention Teams — Marlene Petersen, 440-8278 <b>•</b>ADAPT Prevention and Training Program — Pauline Martel, 672-2691 <b>•</b>Glide Together ! — Sam Moore, 672-2691 <b>•</b>Sutherlin Together! — Zada Wright, 459-8262 <b>•</b>DC CAPS (Douglas County Communities Aligned to Prevent Substance Abuse) — Pauline Martel, 672-2691 <b>•</b>Douglas County Early Childhood Planning Coalition — Matt Brausam, 440-4794 <b>•</b>Douglas County Commission on Children and Families — Gillian Wesenberg, 957-4622 <b>•</b>Douglas County Health and Social Services Department — Marilyn Carter, health educator/ health promotions, 440-3563 |
"He wasn't a drug user," Terry said. "He was an athlete and well-liked. ... Baily was an adrenaline junky and fun to be around. One thousand people attended his funeral. That says something. He wasn't a sleaze ball."
After his son's death, Terry said his true education on drugs began. He learned prescription medication, despite wide-held beliefs to the contrary, can be lethal. He learned young people, no matter what their interests or social standing, aren't immune to negative peer pressure.
He also learned that there are countless people who would rather pretend there isn't a drug problem than acknowledge their own children could face the same fate as his son. This realization prompted Terry to start the Baily Day Foundation, an organization dedicated to educating teens about the hazards of recreational and experimental drug use.
"When you take a person's child, you're taking away their future," Day said. "My future is gone. I need to make sense of this. This (foundation) keeps me going."
Although still forming, Terry said his organization's mission is to revamp existing drug education curriculum. He wants kids to know what drugs are out there, what's in them, and how they interact. He also wants them to recognize the danger symptoms, in case they're in need of medical attention.
Everyone, not just kids, he said, must know these basic principles.
"No one is informed," Terry said. "If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem. Complacency feeds the problem."
Daniel Jeremiah, a senior at RHS, agrees change needs to take place. A friend of Baily's, Jeremiah is now one of the 30-plus active members of the Baily Day Foundation. He joined because he wants to help curb drug use among young people -- an act that won't shift, he said, until kids are presented information in new and innovative ways.
"The current programs don't work," Jeremiah said. "They're too textbook. They just say drugs are bad. With the Baily Day Foundation, we can inform them in different ways, ways they can understand."
Jeremiah said his goal is to educate teens so they know what they're doing. Although he may not be able to convince drug users to quit, he'll at least be able to inform them about their actions so they won't overdose or experiment with dangerous combinations.
He also wants to spread word of the foundation's existence. This is now being done through the making of bumper stickers, T-shirts and other merchandise that will soon be available for sale. Proceeds will go toward research and the creation of new drug education curriculum, which Terry hopes to introduce to area schools in the near future.
"You have to start somewhere, and we're starting here," Terry said. "If you don't dream big, you won't get anywhere."
After his son's death, Terry said his true education on drugs began. He learned prescription medication, despite wide-held beliefs to the contrary, can be lethal. He learned young people, no matter what their interests or social standing, aren't immune to negative peer pressure.
He also learned that there are countless people who would rather pretend there isn't a drug problem than acknowledge their own children could face the same fate as his son. This realization prompted Terry to start the Baily Day Foundation, an organization dedicated to educating teens about the hazards of recreational and experimental drug use.
"When you take a person's child, you're taking away their future," Day said. "My future is gone. I need to make sense of this. This (foundation) keeps me going."
Although still forming, Terry said his organization's mission is to revamp existing drug education curriculum. He wants kids to know what drugs are out there, what's in them, and how they interact. He also wants them to recognize the danger symptoms, in case they're in need of medical attention.
Everyone, not just kids, he said, must know these basic principles.
"No one is informed," Terry said. "If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem. Complacency feeds the problem."
Daniel Jeremiah, a senior at RHS, agrees change needs to take place. A friend of Baily's, Jeremiah is now one of the 30-plus active members of the Baily Day Foundation. He joined because he wants to help curb drug use among young people -- an act that won't shift, he said, until kids are presented information in new and innovative ways.
"The current programs don't work," Jeremiah said. "They're too textbook. They just say drugs are bad. With the Baily Day Foundation, we can inform them in different ways, ways they can understand."
Jeremiah said his goal is to educate teens so they know what they're doing. Although he may not be able to convince drug users to quit, he'll at least be able to inform them about their actions so they won't overdose or experiment with dangerous combinations.
He also wants to spread word of the foundation's existence. This is now being done through the making of bumper stickers, T-shirts and other merchandise that will soon be available for sale. Proceeds will go toward research and the creation of new drug education curriculum, which Terry hopes to introduce to area schools in the near future.
"You have to start somewhere, and we're starting here," Terry said. "If you don't dream big, you won't get anywhere."
<b>PREVENTION TEAMS</b>
Marlene Petersen, the Roseburg middle school coordinator of safety and prevention programs, shares Terry's ambitions. She believes the key to decreasing drug use is to include kids in the quest for a solution. By giving them a voice and a sense of empowerment, she said, they'll not only be less likely to use drugs themselves but will be able to provide insight as to why their peers choose to experiment.
"We need to respect and value the intelligence of our youth," Petersen said. "They have gifts of enthusiasm we've lost as adults. They don't see barriers, they see what our successes can be."
With this goal in mind, she created the Joseph Lane Middle School Prevention Team last year and is now forming a similar team at Fremont. Funded through a federal Safe and Drug Free Schools grant, the program is populated by students elected by their fellow classmates. About a dozen students are involved in each group.
The teams work on prevention activities throughout the year. They talk to classes about the importance of staying substance free, they share their views with adults and they attend camps and fairs where the issue of drug abuse is stressed. At Jo Lane, the students also distributed a survey asking what their classmates think of drugs.
The results spoke volumes, Petersen said. Of the 450 eighth-graders who took the survey, about 39 percent admitted to riding in a car with a driver who'd been drinking. The other problems revealed by the questionnaire include a significant number of students using marijuana, drinking, bullying and having a lack of respect for themselves and others.
Now the group members are exploring ways to address these problems, and they're beginning by clearing up misconceptions about drugs.
"Now smart people are getting high and parents don't expect it," said Chloé Ruffin, an eighth-grader at Jo Lane. "They're doing it, and they're getting away with it."
Ruffin said adults and teens alike have an image of drug users as being kids who don't belong, who get into trouble and who perform poorly in school. But that isn't always the case. Drug users can be popular. They can be athletes, and they can even be earning straight A's.
Ruffin and ninth-grader Drew Terhune agree teens may not have good reasons to try drugs. They may want to experiment, they may do it to combat boredom, they may even try drugs to rebel.
"They do it because they can," Terhune said. "A lot of teenagers feel they are invincible and so much smarter than their parents."
By informing kids about the alternatives to drugs and by convincing them to become engaged in something -- whether it be band or sports -- the Jo Lane prevention team believes positive differences will result. Ultimately, though, they admit people must take responsibility for their own actions.
"You can only do so much," Terhune said. "In the end, it comes down to you."
* You can reach reporter Erin Snelgrove at 957-4208 or by e-mail at esnelgrove@newsreview.info.
Marlene Petersen, the Roseburg middle school coordinator of safety and prevention programs, shares Terry's ambitions. She believes the key to decreasing drug use is to include kids in the quest for a solution. By giving them a voice and a sense of empowerment, she said, they'll not only be less likely to use drugs themselves but will be able to provide insight as to why their peers choose to experiment.
"We need to respect and value the intelligence of our youth," Petersen said. "They have gifts of enthusiasm we've lost as adults. They don't see barriers, they see what our successes can be."
With this goal in mind, she created the Joseph Lane Middle School Prevention Team last year and is now forming a similar team at Fremont. Funded through a federal Safe and Drug Free Schools grant, the program is populated by students elected by their fellow classmates. About a dozen students are involved in each group.
The teams work on prevention activities throughout the year. They talk to classes about the importance of staying substance free, they share their views with adults and they attend camps and fairs where the issue of drug abuse is stressed. At Jo Lane, the students also distributed a survey asking what their classmates think of drugs.
The results spoke volumes, Petersen said. Of the 450 eighth-graders who took the survey, about 39 percent admitted to riding in a car with a driver who'd been drinking. The other problems revealed by the questionnaire include a significant number of students using marijuana, drinking, bullying and having a lack of respect for themselves and others.
Now the group members are exploring ways to address these problems, and they're beginning by clearing up misconceptions about drugs.
"Now smart people are getting high and parents don't expect it," said Chloé Ruffin, an eighth-grader at Jo Lane. "They're doing it, and they're getting away with it."
Ruffin said adults and teens alike have an image of drug users as being kids who don't belong, who get into trouble and who perform poorly in school. But that isn't always the case. Drug users can be popular. They can be athletes, and they can even be earning straight A's.
Ruffin and ninth-grader Drew Terhune agree teens may not have good reasons to try drugs. They may want to experiment, they may do it to combat boredom, they may even try drugs to rebel.
"They do it because they can," Terhune said. "A lot of teenagers feel they are invincible and so much smarter than their parents."
By informing kids about the alternatives to drugs and by convincing them to become engaged in something -- whether it be band or sports -- the Jo Lane prevention team believes positive differences will result. Ultimately, though, they admit people must take responsibility for their own actions.
"You can only do so much," Terhune said. "In the end, it comes down to you."
* You can reach reporter Erin Snelgrove at 957-4208 or by e-mail at esnelgrove@newsreview.info.
