A handful of parents turns out for forum on drug use
By Leigh Ann Maze
For teens today, the drugs are harder and the risks from sexual behavior are greater, according to Alan Sherer, executive director of Triad Community Services. Affluence does not buffer teens from drugs. In fact, a 1997 survey shows that Los Gatos High School teens use more drugs and alcohol on average than high school students nationally.
However, the low turnout at the Community Forum on Teen Drug and Alcohol Use on March 7 may indicate that Los Gatos parents are unaware or unconcerned about these issues. Only five mothers and one Los LGHS graduate showed up at the Los Gatos Neighborhood Center at 7 p.m. for the well-publicized forum, sponsored by the Parenting Continuum.
The parents asked questions and engaged in discussion with four panelists, who work with Los Gatos teens every day.
"There is no two ways about the fact that there is a lot of alcohol and substance abuse in this town," said LGHS vice principal Don Hand, who was one of the panelists. Hand added that, fortunately, Los Gatos teens have a lot of support from parents and the community. "While there is not a lot of turnout ... tonight, you have this meeting tonight," he said.
Other panelists included Sherer, counselor Jennifer Niklaus of the Santa Clara Valley YWCA, and juvenile detective Randy Bishop of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department. Kim Biderman of CASA was also present.
Alcohol is the drug of choice among Los Gatos teens, panelists agreed. It's inexpensive, easy to get and sometimes provided by parents who want their youngsters to drink in a safe environment. Sherer, who counsels teens in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, said that Los Gatos is the only community where young people have told him they drink as a way to relieve the pressure to achieve in school.
Niklaus added that she feels it is easier for teens in affluent areas of the county, such as Los Gatos, to have a party where drugs and alcohol are present. "Someone is always gone on vacation," Niklaus said. In less affluent areas of the county you might have extended families living in the same house, and it is not as easy unless they drink on the streets, she said.
The panelists stressed the best thing a parent can do is to keep an open relationship with their teen. "Teens are constantly telling parents to leave them alone," Sherer said. "A lot of parents hear that message and take an early retirement. That's exactly the wrong response."
"It doesn't seem to have anything to do with how close my relationship is with my daughter," said a mother, who has picked up her daughter several times, no-questions-asked, when she called after drinking with friends. "It's society."
The panelists agreed that peer pressure is immense for high school students. "Children go to their parents to tell them whether they are OK or not. Once puberty hits, they turn to their peer group," Hand said.
The panelists and parents also discussed marijuana, the second drug of choice among Los Gatos teens. Biderman passed normal looking pens, highlighters and key chains around the room which were actually pipes for smoking marijuana. Sherer told the parents that marijuana today is 10 times stronger than it was in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Panelists also discussed black tar heroin, which is coming to the area from Santa Cruz County, and "date rape drugs."
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
