Signs of drug use

Radio Commentary

The Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse has developed eight points to help raise drug-free kids:

• Talk to your children.

• Listen to your children.

• Set standards of right and wrong.

• Remember they learn by example.

• Love, support, and praise them so they will have a sense of self-worth.

• Keep them busy.

• Be involved with their lives.

• Educate yourself about drugs.

These are wonderful general principles that all parents should keep in mind. But they are not guarantees in any sense.

Many parents have asked how they can know, in time to be helpful, whether their children are involved with drugs.

The council has listed some warning signs for parents to look for that could signal involvement with drugs. These include:

• A drop in school performance

• A lack of interest in grooming

• Withdrawal, isolation, or depression

• Aggressive or rebellious behavior

• Excessive influence by peers

• Hostility and lack of cooperation

• Deteriorating relationships with family

• Loss of interest in hobbies and sports

• A change of friends

• A change in eating or sleeping habits

Always remember: help is available.

Homework tips

Radio Commentary

Without review, the average student can forget 80 percent of what he has read in just two weeks. 

To help students retain what they have learned, the first review of the material should come very shortly after they have studied the material for the first time. 

An early review acts as a check on forgetting and helps them remember much longer. When the time comes to review for a test, the material is fresher in their minds and easier to recall.

Sometimes, it also helps to recite the material out loud. Recitation reinforces the material and creates a different pathway into the child’s memory banks. 

After reading a paragraph, it often helps to have the student use his or her own words to describe key ideas.

One other homework tip has proven effective for many families: When students are given a study assignment that will be due in a few weeks, the students should spend time reviewing the tasks and creating a timeline the very first night. 

They should read through it carefully, and think about all the elements that need to be done — including research, memorization, artwork, or other creative touches.

The main advantage is that the student avoids waiting until the last minute and discovering, too late, everything that should have been done in the meantime.

Early adolescence

Radio Commentary

The toughest time for parents to connect with their children is probably the young adolescent years from 10 to 15, when parental support is the most important.

Those are the years when children strive to develop their identity, listen to their peers, and pay attention to the latest styles, no matter how strange they may look to adults.

It’s also the time when they can make decisions that will follow them throughout their lives. 

Parents should understand that change at this time is a natural part of maturing. 

Your young adolescent is not the first to experience doubt, anxiety, or worry.

Remember when it happened to you? And remember that it will eventually end.

Be sure to fight only the important battles. There will be a wide range of issues that arise during this time. Your child may decide to dye his hair and may associate with peers who are experimenting with drugs. 

Clearly the drug issue would have a much greater impact on his life. It might prove wiser to bite your tongue when you’re tempted to react to the short-term problem of hair color.

Young adolescents often think they are the only ones ever to experience what is now occurring. Remind them, by sharing your own stories, that this is not the case.

Dealing with bullies

Radio Commentary

Children as young as five can start jockeying for social power, and some may even begin to inflict cruelty on other children.  

Young people who are victims of bullies respond in various ways. Some may talk about the torment they are receiving. Others may just come home and fall apart. They might cry or throw tantrums for no apparent reason.

If you know that your child is being bullied, talk to the principal or school counselor as soon as possible.

Describe in detail what is happening and how often. Let school officials explain the steps they will take to promote a healthy learning environment and keep your child safe.

At home, help empower your child by letting her know you believe she can handle social situations.

Help her find the right words to say, like “You can’t do that to me,” or “You need to stay away from me.” Practice role-playing to help prepare your child and build his courage.

Bullies seem less likely to pick on children who have friends, so encourage your child’s friendships.

Host “play dates” and help your child find extracurricular activities. Having friends in other places, outside of school, can build confidence.

A child who feels successful socially will be able to see that it’s the bully’s problem, not hers.

In fact, a child who feels more secure and less vulnerable is less likely to be picked on, so work hard to reinforce those traits.

Hopeful but vigilant

By Bill Cirone, Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools

We strongly support children and public education, regardless of who is in charge at the federal level, but we must agree with the recent comments by Diane Ravitch, education historian and former U.S. assistant secretary of education. She expressed the feelings of so many educators and parents regarding the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as secretary of education when she said, “It is troubling and a sad day for American public education when a person who has repeatedly expressed contempt for public schools is confirmed as secretary of education.” Never a student, a parent, or school board member of public education, DeVos has “devoted her life’s work to tear down public education,” Ravitch said.

DeVos’s history of advocacy for privatization and for-profit charter schools, and her lack of respect for separation of church and state, are all troubling. As author Garrison Keillor wrote, “When you wage war on public schools you’re attacking the mortar that holds the community together.”

Our Founding Fathers created a country based on the radical idea that all people were created equal and should have input into their own governance. We would not be led by a monarch or a despot with concentrated power, as much of Europe was at the time.

Our citizens were provided with the right to vote for their representatives, and with that right came the responsibility to be educated.

The genius of our Founding Fathers is reflected in the documents they crafted and the democratic nation they built, and also in their realization that the power to vote had to be based on adequate knowledge and judgment. They decided that the way to make sure all citizens were equipped for the task was to provide free, universal education for every child. Thomas Jefferson said, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free … it expects what never was and never will be."

It is hard to imagine today how radical the idea of free universal education was at the time: By deeming that it was the responsibility of every adult to make sure that every child in the community had a free, public education, our founders were ensuring that democracy would succeed.

Public schools taught important subject matter and civic literacy, and they were also the glue that bound our country together — a shared and unifying experience, regardless of race, creed, or any other trait that separated us rather than binding us together as a community. Democracy at its best.

Over time, public schools evolved. Just as many people now choose what news they wish to watch, many parents now choose what subject matter they wish their children to learn. Homeschooling, charter schools, and private schools are viable alternatives for many families.

Many charter schools, including those in Santa Barbara County, have proven to be highly effective and successful. Many elsewhere have not. Widespread coverage of the investigation into charter schools in Los Angeles, for example, shows that serious malfeasance has reportedly occurred. Even charter school advocates expressed strong concern about DeVos. “At the risk of saying the obvious, we must have a secretary of education who believes in public education and the need to keep the public schools public,” said charter school champion Eli Broad.

We fully support parents’ ability to do what they feel is in their child’s best interest. We do believe, however, that all schools that receive public funds should be held accountable to the same standards. The outcome for children is too important to do anything less. We also will speak out if public schools come under attack, because they are too vital to our nation’s interests and to the best interests of our children and families.

Our stance remains nonpartisan. On one hand, as educators, we are troubled that the new secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, has no experience with public schools and apparently little knowledge of how they operate. We are troubled by her antipathy to public education and her support for allowing firearms in our schools. These troubling facts are likely why she received the lowest congressional support of any cabinet member in our nation’s history. Senators nationwide were bombarded with calls from concerned parents everywhere.

On the other hand, we support all individuals, regardless of party or ideology, who demonstrate they are advocates for ALL children and their education. It is our hope and expectation that Betsy DeVos will look to public education as part of the solution in these troubled times. This is an important time to support and involve teachers, our true community heroes, and to unite us in our quest to do what’s right for all our children. We will remain hopeful and vigilant. Our children’s future is too important to do anything less.

Traits of success

Radio Commentary

According to author Doris Lee McCoy, successful people have several traits in common. The good news is that parents can help nurture and cultivate these traits among their children.

•  First, successful people enjoy their work. They can be good at it because they like doing it.

•  Successful people almost always have a positive attitude and plenty of confidence that gets them through the rough spots.

•  They invariably use negative experiences to discover their strengths. They see negatives as challenges to overcome and to learn from.

•  Successful people are also decisive, disciplined goal-setters. They don’t let distractions get in the way.

•  They have integrity, and they help others succeed.

•  Successful people are also persistent. They keep at it until the goal is reached, where others may get discouraged and choose another path.

•  They’re also risk takers, in the spirit of “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

•  They’ve developed good communication skills and problem-solving skills.

•  They surround themselves with competent, responsible, and supportive people, and know how to tell the difference.

•  They’re healthy, high-energy people, and they schedule time to renew themselves before problems can arise.

These traits apply to young and old alike.

Sparking curiosity

Radio Commentary

Sparking a child’s curiosity can be one of the important keys to lifelong learning. Parents can play a vital role in this process.

For example, you can make up trivia games to play with children, even when you’re on the run.

You can also help children become active partners in the learning process by giving them a chance to experiment around the house with measuring, cooking, repairing broken items, and other activities that require finding and using information.

You’d be surprised at what your home yields if you look around with a curious eye.

Also, be sure to keep up with what’s going on in your child’s school.

Attend school events and send notes to teachers to express your availability to help. Write teachers when you have questions or concerns, and make an appointment to share your observations.

Get involved with your children by asking for detailed descriptions of what they’re studying at school. Have them teach you some parts of what they’ve learned.

Be sure your children know that you consider their education to be very important.

Even if you can attend only a few school events, your presence will show your children that you’re interested in their school life and you value its importance.

That’s a crucial lesson for them to learn, and it can only come from the home.

Local Leaders with Bill Cirone (Steve Hinkley)

Guest:
Steve Hinkley
MOXI Museum