KEEPING INFORMED ABOUT TEEN PARTIES BY CHECKING ONLINE

Parents Are Joining E-Mail Network

ARLINGTON -- Arlington High School parents will soon have a new tool
for finding out what goes on at their teenagers' parties.

Parents, with the help of the high school's principal, Charles
Skidmore, are setting up an Internet contact list, with the e-mail
addresses and telephone numbers of parents who are interested in
sharing information with one another about parties, alcohol and drug
use, and parental supervision.

"I don't think that parents were thinking they'd never been able to
get in touch with each other before. We do have a phone book in
Arlington," Skidmore said. "But I think parents have realized maybe
kids are doing a little more in basements on Saturday nights than
they thought they are. This is parent-to-parent communication. And
everyone on this list is fine being called."

The list began as a suggestion by several parents at a Nov. 16 forum
at the high school entitled "What Parents Should Know about what
Arlington Teenagers are Doing." During the forum, parents heard from
a panel that included the town's police chief, school officials, and
representatives from agencies that serve teens.

They also learned the results of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey for
the district. The district's health coordinator, Cindy Bouvier, said
the turnout at the event was high -- 80 high school parents -- and
many of those who attended felt it was important to take action when
they heard some startling statistics about their children's behavior.

The survey is taken once every four years and last year was
administered to 972 students by an independent company. While the
numbers for cigarette smoking, drug use, and sexual behavior were
generally down from four years earlier, a few of the town's
statistics were higher than the state average, such as the 28 percent
of students who reported that they had drunk five or more alcoholic
drinks in a row within the 30 days before the survey was given and
the 27.7 percent of students who reported smoking marijuana in the
same time period.

"There's a lot of data in there, and we wanted parents to be aware
what the students were telling us about drug use and alcohol,"
Skidmore declared. "The thing that was the most difficult was the one
with alcohol use. Most of our numbers, we are below the state norm.
For that one we're higher."

Bouvier, who has two children who have attended Arlington schools,
including one who is a senior at Arlington High, said a similar list
existed several years ago, but in order to sign up, parents had to
sign a contract saying that they would never serve alcohol when teens
were at their house.

Bouvier said parents have been reluctant to sign contracts more
recently; only 25 signed up the last time the school initiated a list
even though the contracts were not legally binding. She said this
list is less of a commitment but should help parents feel comfortable
calling one another when their kids say they are attending a party or
get-together at another house.

"Some students would have a difficult time" with their parents
calling the house that they are going to visit, Bouvier said. If they
feel that way, "maybe there's a reason to be calling."

Skidmore said 150 people had signed up to be added to the list in the
two weeks since it was announced.

"I know from being a parent that we did make the calls and parents
weren't irate or angry but didn't understand why were we calling. Why
were we suspicious of them? Why were we suspicious of our kids?"
Skidmore recalled. "For me it was a normal thing to do. This list
will serve that purpose."