Source: Irish Independent
Contact: independent.letters@independent.ie

The drugs in your child's schoolyard

Schoolchildren as young as 11 are using widely available substances such as
correction fluid thinners and lighter fluid.

For thousands of parents who saw their children enter or return to post
primary education this week it is a time of excitement tinged with fear.
Apart from hoping that their children will do well and achieve good grades
over the next five years, there exists a whole slew of new problems that
most parents would never have dealt with during their own time in secondary
school.

With the use of drugs such as Ecstasy and cannabis on the increase among
youngsters, many parents are afraid that there children will become exposed
to such dangers while in the class room. Schools have always had to deal
with the problems of peer pressure, and many teachers and parents are
concerned that vulnerable or insecure students will participate in
dangerous and even life threatening activities in the hope of gaining
acceptance from their school mates.

While there is little hard evidence to suggest that Irish schools have
deteriorated to the same levels as many English schools, where drug dealing
in the playground is seen as a major problem (the infamous North Ridings
school in Leeds, for example, has had to expel several pupils for dealing
Ecstasy, LSD and cannabis during the lunch hour), there is a fear that
children, many as young as 11, are experimenting with more widely available
substances such as correction fluid
thinners and lighter fluid.

While not classed as narcotics, substances as diverse as antifreeze,
lighter fluid, nail varnish remover and even deodorants can all be used to
give the user a high that includes disorientation, hallucinations and,
after sustained abuse, paranoia and severe nausea.

While the trend is not restricted to school children (a 32yearold Sallins
man was found dead last week after sniffing five cans of lighter fluid a
day over a long period of time), surveys suggest that solvent abuse is
mainly an adolescent phenomenon. Children aged between 1416 are seen as
the most likely to experiment.

According to a Department of Health survey, 19pc of all second level
students have experimented at least once with solvents over the past seven
years. This is a 6pc rise on the last survey and this increase worries many
observers.

John White, PRO of the National Parents Council is quite blunt. "There is a
drug problem of some sort in every school in the country," he states. "It
doesn't make any difference whether your school is rural or urban, or what
the socioeconomic standing of the school is. The fact of the matter, and
we go up and down the country to every school, is that drugs, be they
solvents or illegal narcotics, have made an impression everywhere.

"One of the problems that we have to constantly face is that no principal
wants to put their hands up and admit that they have a problem. But the
time for worrying about any shame or stigma that might come about as a
result of such an admission has gone. While obviously nobody wants to panic
about such matters, we have to be realistic in our approach.

"When we go to meetings around the country we always meet parents who
are worried that some children in their school are doing drugs of one
kind or another."

Like many principals, White feels that parents often have to face up to
some unpalatable truths. "There simply aren't enough children in the
country for them all to be someone else's kid", he says.

"It would be great if it was always some other child getting involved in
antisocial activities such as abusing solvents or taking other kinds of
drugs. But we have to accept that very few kids are as angelic as their
parents would like them to be, and that is not a reflection on parents,
it's just a fact of life. The further you push something like this under
the carpet, the more likely you are to see it come right back up and bite
you."

White believes that the education process should start at an earlier stage.
"Unfortunately, it's often not sufficient to start warning kids about the
dangers of drugs when they are twelve or thirteen, because kids of that age
are more likely to experiment and rebel. He continues, "we advocate a drugs
awareness scheme in primary schools, when children are still quite young.
The biggest weapon anyone can have when it comes to drugs is education, and
it is important to fill kids in on the dangers of experimenting with
substances before they get to an age where they are hearing all sorts of
myths and inaccuracies."

It is also important, he believes, to educate parents. "Many parents,
particularly older ones, really don't have a clue about drugs, so it is
important that they make themselves aware the situation and the different
forms substance abuse can take.

The Drugs Task Force often visit schools and parents meetings and I have to
say that they are incredibly helpful and informative, and they have no
problems in going to even the remotest schools. At these meetings they will
show parents what the drugs look like and how to pick out the warning signs."

White believes it is imperative for second level students to be taught
about the dangers of solvents and drugs by a teacher they trust. "There is
no point," he says, "of having a teacher who is not respected by the
students standing at the top of the class and lecturing them. Likewise, a
policeman coming in to the class will often not have any great effect,
particularly in areas where many young people don't trust them. But if a
teacher who is respected by the students can get them to listen, then there
is always hope."

When asked by worried parents about how they should cope with a situation
once it develops, White feels that the police can then take an effective
role. "People should remember that the Gardai aren't just there to
prosecute, they are there to help, and if a worried parent does go them for
advice they will deal with such matters with confidentiality. After all,
there is
nothing they have not already seen."

Ray Kennedy is principal of Templeogue College, one of south Dublin's most
highly regarded schools.

He feels that it is "important to take an inclusive approach to these
matters. The fact of the matter is that young people will often do silly
things and we have to try to help them and understand them. This sort of
thing goes on all the time in society at large and you have to be aware of
the fact that such matters can raise their ugly heads in any school. It's
not something Templeogue College has ever experienced in any major way but
you always have to be on your guard."

"Obviously, if you were to discover that a student was peddling or
pushing drugs it would be an incredibly serious matter but I honestly
believe that support and understanding for both student and parent
are of vital importance on an issue like this."