
{"id":16198,"date":"2011-02-24T11:40:23","date_gmt":"2011-02-24T16:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=16198"},"modified":"2011-02-24T11:40:23","modified_gmt":"2011-02-24T16:40:23","slug":"everybody%e2%80%99s-kid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/02\/24\/everybody%e2%80%99s-kid\/","title":{"rendered":"Everybody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kid"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_16199\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16199\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/02\/24\/everybody%e2%80%99s-kid\/recently0224111\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-16199\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/recently0224111.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"recently0224111\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/recently0224111.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/recently0224111-113x84.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/recently0224111-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/recently0224111-106x80.jpg 106w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16199\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">PHOTO BY VALARIE SCHWARTZ. A panel discussing teen substance abuse at a meeting in January included some of the teens of the Youth Community Project and their adult guides, from left to right, Rachel Valentine, Victoria Law, Michael Irwin, Jessica Batson, Sam Getka and Gabby Abrams. In conjunction with an adult board, the Teen Support Coalition, the teens are working toward creating a teen-run nonprofit coffeehouse\/cultural center in Carrboro or Chapel Hill.\u00c2  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>RECENTLY . . .<br \/>\nBy Valarie Schwartz<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After attending a panel discussion on teens and substance abuse hosted by the United Church of Chapel Hill in January, discussions with those who know the teen scene led me to six weeks of collecting data and stories. <\/p>\n<p>My overwhelming finding is that teens appear to be no more out of control than they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever been, but they may be in more danger because of the state of our society. <\/p>\n<p>The panel, which included professionals who work with teens (among them, a drug treatment court manager, an assistant district attorney, a counselor who treats teens with addictions and law-enforcement officers), spoke of the substances teens are using, the higher likelihood of addiction the younger they start and the availability of substances.<\/p>\n<p>According to 2010 statistics from the police departments of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, those aged 16 to 18 were arrested 170 times in Chapel Hill and 69 times in Carrboro (for a wide range of charges). However, there were reports of children \u00e2\u20ac\u201c from infants to 18 year olds \u00e2\u20ac\u201c being victims of crimes 284 times in Chapel Hill and 103 times in Carrboro.<\/p>\n<p>But Jim Huegerich, crisis human services manager for the Chapel Hill Police Department for the past 37 years, said the statistics are skewed because \u00e2\u20ac\u0153teens don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t report. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s masked as acted-out behavior.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d If they did report, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d see a lot more reports of bullying, much of it generated on the Internet. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A fair amount of people are using social sites to bully,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Huegerich said. <\/p>\n<p>Besides not reporting victimization, not all teens using substances get caught. <\/p>\n<p>Our police departments have done a good job cleaning up the areas once known for street buys, but teens now buy legal drugs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c synthetic substances that produce whatever kind of high or mellow they seek. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kids are learning how to use different things that aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as easily detected,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Robin Clark of the Community Services Division of the Chapel Hill Police Department. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re seeing kids trying to stay on the legal end of things, smoking synthetic stuff \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 using prescription drugs,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d usually taken from a parent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s medicine cabinet.<\/p>\n<p>Legal, by no means, equates to safe. When I spoke to her recently, Clark told of a 20-year-old who had the previous weekend smoked something she thought was called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153G.I. Joe,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d basically bath salts. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He may never come out of the coma,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. According to those who got him to the ER, he only inhaled a couple of puffs.<\/p>\n<p>K-2 and Spice, two popular synthetic forms of marijuana, produce a more intense high, but with high anxiety, a harsh crash and unknown long-term effects. <\/p>\n<p>However, the number one drug of choice hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t changed through generations: alcohol. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Most drink at home when their parents are away \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or at home,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Jesse Dingle, the principal at Chapel Hill High School, of teens who use alcohol. <\/p>\n<p>Because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s legal for anyone 21 and over, teens feel it must not be that bad for them, but the American Medical Association says that teen brains are still developing and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153alcohol can seriously damage long- and short-term growth processes.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The part of the brain that allows risk-taking develops before the part that warns of the dangers.<\/p>\n<p>Even some parents aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t getting the picture.<\/p>\n<p>What struck me the most was the fact that parents were asking the panel of professionals what to say to their own peers, other adults, about allowing teenage drinking in their homes,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Jenny Schultz, who organized and led the panel discussion.\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The social pressures facing parents today are equally as intense and debilitating as what teens are dealing with.\u00c2\u00a0Parents can no longer take for granted the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcvillage\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 mantra. It takes a village, but the village may\u00c2\u00a0or may not\u00c2\u00a0be trusted.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Teens were represented at the discussion by several members of the Youth Community Project (YCP), a 12-member board of teens working with two adults in conjunction with an adult board called the Teen Support Coalition, endeavoring to start a nonprofit teen-run cafe\/cultural center. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Most kids doing drugs are bored,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said YCP member Gabby Abrams. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lack of entertainment.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Having fun without having to sneak around is a lot more fun,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Sam Getka, also a member of YCP. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking for a space that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s open but with so much going on that teens can explore and grow; where they can be safe and forward-moving,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Rachel Valentine, who, along with Michael Irwin, an English teacher at Chapel Hill High, works with the teens. <\/p>\n<p>The pressures put on teens was a recurring theme throughout the panel discussion \u00e2\u20ac\u201c besides academic, sports performance and parental pressures, they experience the fallout of whatever the adults in their homes are feeling. <\/p>\n<p>Steve Farmer, dean of admissions at UNC, spoke softly and wisely when he said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Some parents make college an idol.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He echoed what others had said about how parents sometimes refuse to see that getting help for their teens needs to outweigh their desire for their child to graduate from college four years after earning a high school degree. <\/p>\n<p>Carrboro police Chief Carolyn Hutchinson has two teens of her own, whom she keeps informed. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I ask them, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWhat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first thing that goes when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re drunk?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 They know the answer \u00e2\u20ac\u201c judgment.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>She told me of a recent incident when a high school varsity athlete, the daughter of affluent parents, a teenager with opportunities and advantages, was found unconscious outside The ArtsCenter. She was taken by ambulance to the emergency room with the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153water\u00e2\u20ac\u009d bottle she had filled with vodka, probably before leaving home.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This stuff happens all the time,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hutchinson said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s everybody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kid.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Huegerich insists that we not give up on the village ideal. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It takes resilience and adult role models outside the family,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what keeps some kids from going down for the third time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Learn more at these local websites: <a href=\"http:\/\/chccoalition.org\/\">chccoalition.org<\/a> and<a href=\"http:\/\/teensupportcoalition.org\/\"> teensupportcoalition.org <\/a><br \/>\nReach Valarie Schwartz at 923-2746 or valariekays@mac.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After attending a panel discussion on teens and substance abuse hosted by the United Church of Chapel Hill in January, discussions with those who know the teen scene led me to six weeks of collecting data and stories. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":16199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-recently"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16198"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16234,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16198\/revisions\/16234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}