The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
'It's only alcohol': District confronts problem
Local athletes kicked off teams, ski club members caught drinking
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 1, 2007
The drug of choice among Saline High School students is not cocaine. It's not heroine or marijuana.
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It's alcohol.
And readily available prescription drugs are gaining in popularity, says Student Assistance Coordinator Mark Schuby.
"We need to keep in perspective that most kids are not drinking," Schuby prefaced his dire assessment. "That said, alcohol use is at a scary level."
Schuby estimates roughly one-third of Saline High School seniors have gotten drunk in the last two weeks. That, he said, is a "huge problem."
In the past few months, a handful of varsity athletes have been kicked off their teams for drinking. Numerous students have been suspended. A recent trip by the ski club was tainted when it was uncovered that at least seven students drank during the weekend.
At a football game last fall, students chanted, "We are sober" to protest administrators' cracking down on students coming to games intoxicated. Also, two students have been expelled for the selling and distribution of prescription drugs.
Issues with teenage alcohol use is not unique to Saline schools, Schuby said, but many districts are reluctant to publicly acknowledge the problem for fear it will reflect poorly on them.
"A lot of districts appear not to have a problem because they don't look," he said. "It's not that we have a bigger problem in this district, it's because we're looking for it."
Schuby is not prepared to say drinking is on the rise at the high school, but he does believe Saline students are becoming more brazen about their drinking.
The spate of recent alcohol-related incidents has drawn the avid attention of Superintendent Beverley Geltner, who has vowed to confront vigorously and forthrightly what she calls "a culture of casual and pervasive use of alcohol" among Saline's high school students.
"This isn't a secret," said Geltner. "This is a big and serious problem."
She announced her intentions to openly address teenage drinking in an e-mail to parents subscribing to the district's mailing list.
"It's my intent to be vigilant, open and transparent with the entire community," she wrote. "I will not abdicate my responsibility to bring any issue, which may affect the health, safety and well-being of the students in our school district to the attention of all members of the community."
The early response to her declaration has been positive, she said.
"I'm not going to tolerate it," she said. "I know this is what the parents in this community want. I'm finding gratitude. I'm finding it's a serious wake-up call for some parents."
It may be what the majority of parents want, but Schuby said he has observed an increasing proclivity on the part of some parents to be more concerned with shielding their child from consequences.
"Ten years ago, if you gave parents the information that their kid was using, they would seek help," Schuby said. "What's different now is that more parents are in on the lie that there isn't a problem. They think it's only alcohol and are willing to go to any lengths to keep their kid out of trouble. I wish it was denial, but I think it's acceptance."
During his 11-year tenure in Saline schools, Schuby has observed that the school district has tended to be about five years behind national trends, but that gap is closing, he said. Prescription drug use among high school students is up across the country, and Schuby said he is already seeing a "ton" of Vicadin, Oxy(contin) and Abderol. Early intervention is critical, said Schuby, and consequences are necessary.
"I have never read a study or a book that showed consequences elevated drug use," he said. "Lack of consequences, on the other hand, skyrockets use."
While many of the more high-profile incidents this year have involved student-athletes, it's a misperception that alcohol use is more prevalent in athletics, Schuby said. Of the 125 students in the past two years who were subjected to the student assistance policy, only approximately 18 percent were student-athletes.
Geltner said she is receiving strong support from coaches in her aggressive campaign against student alcohol use.
"The majority of students I hear about are not athletes," she said, "but one of the ways we can make a very strong impact is through sports."
Another way is through the Internet.
Geltner has taken to trolling through student profiles on myspace.com and facebook, looking for Saline students who have posted pictures of themselves drinking.
"I've been appalled at what I'm seeing," she said, adding that she is taking down names and plans to take any pictures she finds to the police as well as high school administrators.
"My main is goal is that students know and the parents know," she said. "We can't turn a blind eye to this."
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