Alternatives: Proposals For Local Governments Struggling With Limited Resources
Alternatives: Proposals For Local Governments Struggling With Limited Resources
In the fall of 1994, the Harry Singer Foundation invited a limited number, of mostly small-town schools, to take part in a pilot program. Students were required to find ways to stretch the resources of local government and make services more responsive to the desires of citizens. The Foundation hopes to gradually add larger communities, and offer categories for innovative state and national projects.
Volunteers at the Foundation narrowed the entries to 22. They were then edited and sent to the National Center for Financial Education in San Francisco, California, where they were reduced to five. These five were then forwarded to a consultant and former-public official in Minnesota who has been in the forefront of the reinventing government movement; the innovative mayors of Indianapolis and Houston, 12 governors, two former-governors and two members of the United States Congress. Many had the help of staff, but all read the proposals and expressed an interest in what these young people had to say.
The final entries are reproduced on the following pages, just as they were seen by the reviewers at the National Center for Financial Education in San Francisco. Across from each paper we reveal the school and participants, information that was kept from judges.
This project was a logical extension of our continuing Responsibility and White Hat programs. Over the years, through student submissions and other sources, we have collected stories of good-things going on around the country, in both the public and private sectors. These inspirational examples have been accessible to anyone with a computer and a modem since the fall of 1993.
Teacher
John Hendricks
Students
Nikki Bowen
Deanna Blucker
Angie Lundy
Julia Murray
Melissa York
Tabitha Stanfast
S.N. Ball
Melissa Burrow
Derek Dickemann
Jeff Brooks
Carolyn Asher
Jonathan Thomas
Anti-Drug Committee
Drug and alcohol abuse is a rising problem for many cities and towns across the United States. Even here in Dent County, the use of drugs and alcohol is becoming a major concern.
The average age at which children first try alcohol or marijuana is twelve. In a 1987-88 survey of over 200,000 junior and senior high school students by the National Parents' Resource Institute for Drug Education (PRIDE), over 45 percent said they drank liquor.
The Activity
With an estimated one in three U.S. families wrecked by drugs, and 87 percent of adults, according to a recent survey, calling drug abuse among teenagers a very, or extremely, serious problem, a sense of urgency exists.
Drinking and driving is another major concern in our community. A registered nurse, told our class that she has seen many teenagers killed or severely injured in alcohol related accidents. Teen accidents have many causes, but experts are particularly worried about the combination of inexperience, immaturity and alcohol. Many teens have the attitude that they are invincible, that nothing will happen to them. They feel that if they drink and drive responsibly that everything will be all right. Those individuals who get caught with alcohol in their cars often get a mere warning. Usually after this happens, they feel they can get away with it again. On the other hand, if they would get a MIP or a DWI, they probably wouldn't want to take the chance again. A new approach to the drunk driving problem is needed. The Project
There are many things we as a community can do to help this nationwide problem, such as forming a committee to help promote drug awareness and prevention of drug abuse.
A committee could help set up a comprehensive health curriculum in school to educate children about drug abuse and sex education. Washington offers American schools $500 million each year to adopt drug-use-prevention programs. School officials tend to find themselves drawn to the programs that have the most eye-catching props, including classroom games and hand puppets. But most of them don't deliver. Of 350 programs examined by one 1988 study, just three produced decreases in student use in drugs or alcohol.
Some of the most successful classroom programs use techniques like role-playing to equip self-conscious teens with basic social skills. They learn how to conduct a conversation, as well as how to resist peer pressure. The committee proposed as our class alternative, would help establish drug awareness programs in our school to help kids at an early age.
Although programs in school help inform children, parents that talk to their children should be the major players in preventing drug and alcohol abuse. The proposed committee would talk to parents and try to get them involved in drug prevention programs and let them know how they can communicate with their own children about drugs and alcohol. The problem is that most parents got their basic training in child rearing from being reared themselves, but their parents never dealt with a drug epidemic. As a result, most of today's parents find coping with young children who use drugs to be an alien experience. Parents cannot teach their children safe passage in a world awash in drugs and alcohol until they learn how to navigate it for themselves. Every child is vulnerable, but parental involvement is a stout shield.
We currently have a Hi-Step program in our community that goes to elementary schools to inform young children about drugs and alcohol, but as a senior at _____ High School, I haven't heard of more than two programs at our school aimed at drug and alcohol prevention. Even if kids are in high school, they still need to be reminded of all the dangerous effects of using drugs. Many kids wouldn't change what they do on the weekends, but I think a lot of them would be more careful if they were constantly reminded of the severe consequences they might have to face if they used alcohol or other drugs.
All 50 states now have laws requiring alcohol and other drug education. As often as not, however, these mandates are ambiguous and poorly conceived. While several good drug education packages are available, many others were rushed to the market with more interest in the bottom financial line than in educational outcome. Thoughtful consideration is necessary before approving programs for school districts. A committee formed here in Salem would help school administrators examine drug prevention programs and adopt one that would be most beneficial to the children.
A second objective of our alternative would be to find activities for teens. Committee members might talk to local businesses to find job openings for teens and help set up interviews for those who need help. Members could also ask local service-oriented groups, like the Lion's, Optimist or Tri-C to help fund an intramural sports program which would give kids something to do in a solid competitive atmosphere. Members of the committee might lobby for a drug-free teen dance club that would be opened on weekends. Funding and operations would take a sincere effort by the entire community.
Incentives and Disincentives
Critics claim proposals like ours uses valuable school time to teach issues that should be left up to parents, clergy, doctors or others to handle. Although kids would be taught by teachers instead of their own parents, it is best they are educated by someone than nobody at all. Some parents tend to put off talking to their children about these difficult subjects, not realizing that their children are exposed to these problems at school at an early age. Critics also insist that these programs cause more harm than good. Some argue that they would give young children information about sensitive subjects such as drug abuse and sex, but they wouldn't give enough guidance or direction.
Conclusion
School administrators cannot simply accept any drug education program without critical review in an attempt to meet state mandates. Administrators, our committee, as well as teachers, students and other community groups, must work together to craft a program that will unequivocally contribute to the goal of a totally drug-free environment in the school and community
I realize some people are very busy with their jobs and family and it would be difficult for them to find time to participate in a committee such as this, but to have improved results in the community it is important for parents, students, teachers and other community members to get involved.
The community must come together. We can no longer sit around and hope our problems will go away. Teen drug abusers will turn into adults and have children that will do the same thing. It is a vicious cycle that will never stop unless we, as a community, do something about it. Even if our proposed alternative only saves one teen from drug abuse, it will succeed. Back