AW Schools Cancel Spring Community Ed Classes
BY KAREN BERGER — MIRROR REPORTER
Less than a week after a four-page schedule was distributed to Maumee and Anthony Wayne community members, Anthony Wayne Local Schools announced it was canceling its spring community education classes.
The reason: “Money,” said superintendent Dr. John Granger.
“We can’t justify spending money out of our general fund for adult education when we’re making cost reductions. We don’t have the money,” he said.
The district is tightening its budget after a 6.5-mill levy failed March 4. Although adults paid $10.00 or less for classes such as fused glass and jewelry, “Tour De France,” basic investment concepts and several software classes, AW was paying instructors $35.00 per hour plus benefits, Granger said.
Diane Manion is director for the community education program, which offers classes in Maumee, area community centers and at St. Luke’s Hospital. Classes at those locations will not be affected.
However, Manion said she had 71 angry participants who want an explanation.
“I’m in shock,” Manion said. “All the time, effort and cost involved and then to find out less than a week before classes were to begin, they are canceled.”
Class schedules were printed before the March 4 election, Manion said, and have been distributed over the past month.
The short notice – Manion wasn’t notified until the cancellation was seen on the Anthony Wayne Web site on March 25 – was due to an oversight, Granger said.
Rick Heintschel, who administered the program, retired in January, and the information about the program was not reviewed immediately.
“It slipped through the cracks,” Granger said.
St. Luke’s Hospital, which paid to print the schedules, views the classes as a great vehicle for reaching out to the community.
“We want to make good health information accessible to the community,” said Doreen Cutway, St. Luke’s communications coordinator. “Most classes are free unless they have books or other materials. All of our evening classes are free.”
St. Luke’s classes include information about diabetes, health and wellness, senior services and tobacco cessation. Dance, yoga, tai chi and polarity are offered at the old Waterville School.
Maumee High School will host classes in word processing, PowerPoint and Excel, among others.
Many classes began this week. For more information, call Manion at (419) 893-5113 or e-mail mau_aca_dma@nwoca.org.
Strong Parent-Child Connection Is The Best Defense Against Drug Abuse
BY KAREN BERGER — MIRROR REPORTER
Building a solid relationship with kids is the best defense against drug and alcohol abuse, say counselors, teachers and D.A.R.E. officers.
“Parents need to get involved at an early age and stay involved,” said Kate Hartle, Waterville Township police chief and D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer for Anthony Wayne Schools.
A recent study showed that parents spend an average of one minute per day in one-on-one conversation with their teenagers, said Cathy Sperling, chief operating officer for the Community Partnership. Yet the Journal of the American Medical Association found that kids who feel close to their families are less likely to engage in risky behavior.
Start in preschool and keep the lines of communication open so talking about drugs and alcohol will be more of a conversation than preaching, Hartle suggested.
As Maumee D.A.R.E. Officer Wendy Newsome converses with first-graders at Union Elementary, she explains that vitamins are good drugs, then asks what a bad drug is.
“Cigarettes,” says one boy.
“Cigars, because they’re bigger,” says another.
Through videos, game playing and discussion, D.A.R.E. officers focus on choices.
“I ask fifth-graders whether they have harder choices to make now than as a second-grader. They all agree,” Hartle said. “I ask them what’s the coolest, ‘in’ thing right now – like a Wii or a Nintendo DS. Then I ask them what they’ll say if someone says beer is the coolest thing.”
In grade school, officers focus lessons on poisons and how the brain and organs react to poisons. Older students learn about specific drugs and their physical and mental impact.
Social pressure is a major component of drug and alcohol abuse, so Lucas County Sheriff’s Deputy Brett Warner asks Jenni Lenart’s Dorr Elementary fifth-graders to picture 100 kids on the playground. Only nine of 100 kids are actually smoking or doing drugs, he said, so the argument that “everybody is doing it” doesn’t add up.
Surprisingly, the freshmen Warner encounters at Springfield High School and Whitmer High School are not necessarily closed off, even if they have already had experience with drugs and alcohol. While some roll their eyes and try to act cool, others see the negatives and want help, he said.
Drugs of Choice
While marijuana and illegal drug use is going down in Lucas County, abuse of over-the-counter and prescription drugs is on the rise, with kids stealing parents’ and grandparents’ medications.
Last year Sperling heard of a party with seventh- and eighth-graders who threw all sorts of pills into a bowl, and each kid grabbed some to take.
“Imagine if one of those kids overdosed – they couldn’t even tell the EMS what they had taken,” Sperling said.
Oxycontin sells for $80.00 per pill, so kids scrape it and snort it with others. Prescriptions such as Adderall, meant to calm those who are hyperactive, will stimulate those without ADHD.
Another danger to kids, “the choking game,” is seen as a game by some of the eighth-graders Hartle speaks with. Although Ohio is the leading state for deaths from the choking game, most kids don’t see the seriousness.
“They need to know it’s anything but a game. They think it’s no big deal,” Hartle said.
Huffing is often how fifth- and sixth-graders first get introduced to drugs because it’s cheap, Sperling said. But teaching kids about inhalants can be tricky.
“If you say, ‘Don’t sniff that Wite-Out because you can get high,’ it might encourage a kid. You have to be careful because you never know who in the classroom wants to get high,” Sperling said.
Despite all of the new forms, drinking is the most prevalent form of abuse, although its use has gone down.
In 1994, 13 percent of fifth- and sixth-graders had drunk beer, compared to 4.4 percent now.
“There are fewer kids using, but those who are using are drinking larger amounts in a shorter amount of time. This is causing alcohol poisoning. Kids are not emotionally or mentally ready,” Hartle said.
Risk-Takers
Sperling said sometimes it’s easy to spot which kids are going to be interested in drugs and alcohol.
“If you look out on the playground and see the kid alone, walking on a fence and taking risks, they’re the ones who will be more likely to engage in unhealthy risks as they get older,” Sperling said. “There are ways to challenge that kid who seeks the high-risk experience. Teach them to ski or skateboard. Teach aggressive boys martial arts, so they take out their aggression in a positive way. “
Parents With Experience
Parents who think experimenting with drugs and alcohol is a normal rite of passage need to understand that the brain doesn’t fully develop until age 20.
Even if they understand facts about drugs and alcohol, teens still act impulsively out of emotion. Even occasional use can be detrimental, resulting in everything from flunking a test to getting in a car accident or having a heart attack.
Parents who used drugs and alcohol as teens might feel hypocritical setting those boundaries.
While tempting, don’t be an open book about previous drug use, said Hartle, because it might provide a scapegoat for a child looking for a reason to experiment.
However, that experience will help parents in looking out for signs of use and in knowing how to talk to children. Turning a blind eye is worse, Hartle said.
“As a parent, our job is to draw that line in the sand,” Sperling said.
That doesn’t mean parents cannot drink in front of children, Sperling said. Studies show that when parents model appropriate alcohol consumption – such as a glass of wine or beer at dinner – children are more likely to grow up to use it in an appropriate manner. Families who either abuse alcohol or are strictly prohibitionist tend to produce children with more abuse problems.
Stay Informed
Informed parents will be better equipped to speak intelligently to children – and to look out for signs of trouble.
Keeping informed means checking out kids’ Facebook and MySpace pages, and those of their friends, to be aware of discussions about drinking and drugs.
Go to The Shed to learn about paraphernalia, such as Coke cans that unscrew to hide a stash, Sperling said. Count out medications and keep them out of reach, Sperling suggested.
“If teens can navigate these years without drinking, smoking or taking drugs, chances are that they won’t use or abuse these substances as adults,” she said. “Your influence early on can spare your child the negative experiences.”