Attitudes about drink, drugs vary in Sisters

Is Sisters the drinking and drugging capital of Central Oregon? Or is substance use among students no big deal?

There are at least three ways of looking at drinking and drugs that reflect prevailing attitudes within the community.

The first attitude is denial: Drug and alcohol use among Sisters students is no big deal. Some parents rationalize and say, "Hey, I drank when I was in high school, and I turned out okay. What's the problem?"

High school counselor Debbie Newport spoke of the need to be aware of the problem.

"One of the first things we can do is not have our heads in the sand," she said. "There is a problem with teenage substance abuse. Forty-one percent frequently use alcohol, 12 percent frequent usage for 'other drugs' -- these are not acceptable numbers."

Newport's statistics come from a survey sponsored by the Oregon Department of Education.

According to that survey, 81 percent of Sisters 11th graders have used alcohol; 41 percent have used in the past 30 days. Thirty percent of the juniors have tried other drugs, including Ecstasy, cocaine, LSD, and amphetamines; 12 percent reported using within 30 days of the survey.

Lorri Craig of CATS (Community Action Team of Sisters) echoed Newport's assessment.

"There seems to be a lack of awareness of the problem. Some deny that this is an issue," she said.

School District Superintendent Steve Swisher pointed out, "I think there is a much higher tolerance for alcohol use for students among the adults in Sisters. I've had parents say, 'I'd rather have the party at my house where I know they're not out driving somewhere.'

"These parents probably think they're trying to help with the lesser of two evils, but it doesn't get to the root cause of the problem. Instead, let's build refusal skills rather than implicitly condoning alcohol use in students," Swisher said.

Deputy Scott Shelton, who is the school district's resource officer, estimates that approximately one in three crimes in Sisters is related to substance use or abuse. (This, he maintains, is consistent with national statistics as well.)

"Personal ownership is a huge part of the problem," he said. "The problem is with families. I've had parents who allow their kids to drink then ask me, 'Officer, what are you going to do about my son's partying?'"

A second response within the community might be categorized as an alarmist "the sky is falling" attitude.

Some are under the impression that Sisters has a worse drug and alcohol problem than most places in Oregon; after all, 81 percent of the 11th graders have tried alcohol, compared with 73 percent statewide.

However, Newport notes, "70 percent of 11th graders say that they've tried cigarettes. But we certainly don't have 70 percent of our students that are smokers."

The important statistic, she notes, is that 41 percent of high school juniors abused alcohol within the past 30 days, compared with 40 percent across Oregon. This actually represents a significant decline from the year before, when 61 percent of Sisters 11th graders had frequently imbibed.

In other words, we are not on the verge of the apocalypse here. The problem is not getting worse, but is actually improving. It is still problematic, but Sisters is pretty much like any other community in Oregon.

There are those who see the problem as one of boredom.

"Kids drink and do drugs in rural areas because they're bored," goes the thinking. Lorri Craig notes one reason that kids give for substance use is a lack of activities -- "there's nothing to do."

The solution is then seen as providing more activities for kids -- and with increased activity comes a need for more funding.

But the number one complaint of suburban students (who have access to more activities) is -- boredom. In other words, providing more activities does not solve the problem of substance abuse.

"Boredom is indicative of a deeper problem -- purposelessness," said Jim Gurney, student ministries pastor at Sisters Community Church. "More activities isn't the answer."

A third view might be considered the "pragmatic" assessment. This assessment acknowledges that there is a problem with drug and alcohol use in teens in Sisters, just as there is a problem most everywhere in the country.

The key then, is to deal with it as effectively as possible.

Alcohol remains the drug of choice for Sisters youth. Debbie Newport points out that Sisters does not yet have much of a problem with other drugs that are sweeping the nation, like Ecstasy and methamphetamines.

"I honestly don't believe we have that many students that use crank, and some might be using Ecstasy at parties in Bend," she said. "I'm sure that we have kids who are experimenting with them, but especially with crank, we don't see the signs and symptoms of chronic use in our school by students.

"It's a small community, and the students know who's doing what."

Regarding the larger issue of substance use among teens, Newport asserted, "This is not just a school issue; it is a community issue. Can the schools play a part in the solution? Absolutely."

While not dismissing the need for parental involvement, changing some of the social mores of the community regarding the acceptability of alcohol use among students, and religious involvement of students, people like Deputy Shelton, Debbie Newport, and Lorri Craig see a common solution -- high school students mentoring middle school students.

A template already exists from sex education.

STARS, a statewide educational program, teaches refusal and assertiveness skills regarding sex. The data suggests that this is the most effective sex education approach for reducing teenage sexual activity.

Sisters students already are involved with STARS, and it would be a natural step to include substance use in the curriculum.

One high school student admitted, "When I was in middle school, we were together with the high school, and we had serious issues in the middle school with drug and alcohol use. The high schoolers affected us negatively."

The idea is to turn that negative influence of older students into a positive one.

The concept of older students mentoring younger ones to make good choices has been agreed to in principle by representatives of the high school and CATS.

How it plays out remains to be seen. Lorri Craig says, "It's too early to say what exactly this will look like, but right now, there is good, positive communication going on.

"We're looking at developing a YCAT -- a Youth Community Action Team, and we are looking at ways of effective networking with parents and families."