HEADLINE: HELPING TEENS FIGHT ADDICTION TO DRUGS,
LIQUOR
BYLINE: Diane Raring, Correspondent
PUBLISHED: March 14, 1985,
-Thursday; Page C-6 (ill.) (18 in.)
SECTION:
NEWS
TEXT:
TEANECK
Joel, a
handsome 18-year-old, choked back tears as he told how drugs destroyed his
relationship with his father.
From a close
friendship in which Joel and hisDad spent
time hunting and fishing together, their bond
deteriorated to the point of physical blows.
“Just talking about it
is like a nightmare," said Joel,
now drug-free after nine months ofTherapy. "A
lot of times people don't believe me; sometimes I
don't believe it myself. It's like I was a
different person."
Joel told his story in
front of approximately 200 people
in Thomas Jefferson School auditorium Tuesday
night as part of a countywide drug awareness
program for parents, students, and educators. Based on
peer pressure.
The session was
conducted by Dr. Miller Newton,
president of KIDS of Bergen County, a River
Edge-based program founded on the premise that if
peer pressure got students involved with drugs, peer
pressure can get them to stop.
Newton said that most
teen-age drug use starts with
marijuana and alcohol. He added that the first few
times teen-agers experiment with drugs, nothing
particularly harmful happens.
"And the result is
everything we adults told our kids
about the horrors of drugs blows away in one fell
swoop," Newton said. "Pretty soon the kid becomes
less afraid of drugs and tries harder drugs."
With the second stage
of drug use, Newton said,
parents can begin to see subtle changes in their
children's behavior. They begin to drop out of
after-school activities and grades are affected.
It is usually at this point
that parents get angry and
demand that the student shape up, Newton said. The
result is that the student, "with a little
effort or a little cheating," will improve grades.
A dull
buzz'
"That's
when parents will sigh and say, “Thank God,
not my kid, we got the problem fixed.' And of
course they will ignore another symptom," Newton
said.
The final stage of drug
addiction is when the user
ingests drugs so often that he "can't get high, just
a dull buzz feeling."
"At this point, the
kids are burnouts, zombies.
They are walking dead," Newton said.
Newton became involved
in the KIDS program when he
discovered his youngest son, Mark, was using
drugs. Mark was 15 at the time.
Newton told parents
they can combat the
widespread problem of drug abuse by educating themselves
and getting tough on their children.
"Parents who deliver a
convincing message get their point
across. To give that tough bottom line [on drugs]
, know what your talking about," he said.
Recognize drug
paraphernalia. Know what it means if
your child carries a container of eye drops,
Newton said. Drops commonly are used by marijuana
smokers so eyes are not glassy and red.
Newton said the most
important is for parents to
establish honest, open lines of communication with
children and show them a lot of love.
"No kid started out to
become a druggie," said Newton,
adding that peer pressure is responsible and parents
must regain control.
"We've got to knock
off this idea that kids and adults
are equal; this idea that they must be friends. So
what if they're angry with us? They can be
friends with us later when they come home with
the grandchildren," Newton said.
Newton is coauthor of
a book, "Not My Kid," which
details the KIDS program. The book was the subject of
a recent television movie of the same name.
<END>
CAPTIONS:
Staff photo by Klaus-Peter Steitz - Dr. Miller Newton speaking to parents,
teachers, and students.
TERMS:
TEANECK. MEETING. FAMILY. CHILD. DRUG. ABUSE
EDITIONS:
Bergen
ORDER
NUMBER: 820076
NOTICE: Copyright 1985 Bergen Record
Corp.