At the board of education meeting on Thursday, May 14, Haddonfield Memorial High School Principal Chuck Klaus and Haddonfield Middle School Principal Dennis Morolda gave a presentation on the high school and middle school drug and alcohol abuse awareness and prevention initiatives implemented in the schools. They discussed what the schools do, how trends are changing and what the future holds.
This information session was brought about by some high school students speaking up at the recent Bancroft meeting concerning drug use in Haddonfield and the schools.
“As you’re well aware, a few weeks ago there was a meeting in our auditorium about (Bancroft) and during that meeting there were some comments made by students about drug use in Haddonfield. When that happened, Dr. Perry spoke to me and told me we should talk about this and what we do and what we knew about the situation. After that I started talking with my students and… this is a high school problem, but a community issue, well beyond the brick and mortar of this building,” Klaus said.
According to Klaus, he spoke to many students as well as the students who attended the meeting. They felt there wasn’t particularly a drug use problem in the schools, but there is drug use in town and people should be aware of it.
“They said, all they heard people saying is that if you bring a drug and alcohol center they will bring drugs into town. If you don’t think there aren’t already drugs in town then you’re being naïve, is what they were trying to say,” Klaus said.
According to the district’s Violence and Vandalism Report in regard to substance abuse for 2010–2011 there were seven incidents, for 2011–2012 there were six incidents, for 2012–2013 there were no incidents, for 2013–2014 there were two incidents and so far for 2014–2015 there are no incidents. Klaus feels over the past few years there hasn’t been an increase or a decrease, but about the same. Instead, trends in what kinds of drugs used is changing.
For the presentation, Morolda spoke about what is happening in the elementary and middle schools in regard to drug and alcohol prevention and education. According to Morolda, for the younger students it is all about education and providing a positive school environment.
“While it is a high school problem, I think a lot of what we can do as a district is start laying the foundation in middle school and elementary school. Then hopefully, as they get to high school, they have enough education, good decision making skills and feel connected enough to their community and each other to make better decisions,” Morolda said.
In elementary school, a few key points they focus on are Drug Prevention Units and Proactive Approaches. The Drug Prevention Units are where they inform students with factual information about drugs; provide drug programs and activity books; discussion on healthy alternatives to take in one’s life; and refusal skills. Proactive Approaches include a positive school climate and focusing on building self-esteem; responsive classroom strategies/language to build a positive community; celebrating positive student behavior; and a character education program that is woven into the classrooms.
In the middle school, the seventh-grade health curriculum focuses on teaching healthy habits; good decision-making; health risks of using alcohol/drugs; investigate legal/financial consequences; and physical/social/emotional indicators of dependency. They also provide proactive approaches.
In the future, Morolda said they would continue with the community building as well as incorporate it more into the middle school so it continues through eighth grade.
“In my opinion, the more students feel connected to each other, to the school and to the community the less likely they are to associate in negative or at-risk behaviors,” Morolda said.
In the high school, the issues of drugs and alcohol are addressed in the curriculum as well as socially in classes such as freshman health, senior health and anatomy/physiology. They also use breathalyzers at every dance and big social event. The staff is also taught about drugs and alcohol by reviewing the district policies each year, and recently having a prosecutor and DEA agent in to talk about heroine and connections to prescription drugs and members of the District Wide Crisis Team to discuss drug and alcohol as related to stress/prevention strategies.
The high school also worked with the Haddonfield Municipal Alliance to address the community. They’ve put a wrecked car on the front lawn to show the effects of driving under the influence, sponsored speakers such as STOPit and Mind Your Mind, and will soon be having a parent informational meeting about prescription drug medicine, which will be presented at the HMHS auditorium on May 27 at 7 p.m.
However, their biggest concern right now is outside of school and the changing trends of drug diversion and vaping, the use of e-cigarettes.
Drug diversion is the use of prescription drugs for non-prescription use. The two biggest drugs used are attention deficit drugs and narcotics, or pain relievers. Student representative Leah Sullivan spoke about a survey taken at the high school where students said drug diversion is used because of the pressure to do well in school.
“These drugs, they’re unfortunately a consequence of an intense school… there is parent and peer pressure to get good grades,” Sullivan said. “I can say it is possible to go through high school without doing any grade-boosting drugs.”
In regard to vaping, it isn’t just for nicotine; it can be used for other drugs. However, because vaping is colorless and odorless it is hard to detect.
Klaus says they are addressing these issues as the school already has a no vaping policy in place and they are trying to figure out ways they can teach students more positive coping skills and about the harmful effects of drug diversion without making the drug itself seem like a bad thing.
“It is a tricky thing because you can’t stigmatize Adderall. It is a very beneficial medicine for many of our students; we can’t say Adderall is bad. We need to say drug diversion is bad, and it is a very difficult message to send,” Klaus said.
Klaus and members of the board felt this isn’t just a high school issue, but also a community issue, and members of the audience agreed.
Some community problems that were mentioned that need to be addressed were only having one day a year for drug give-backs in Haddonfield, informing parents about the changing trends in drug usage and what to look for, and just overall teaching the community awareness of these issues.
On Monday, May 18, a few administrators came together to discuss ways the community can address some of these issues.
“We know what we do, and what we have to look at and change,” Klaus said.
“This is the beginning… where we are, where we’d like to go. This is an ongoing issue,” Superintendent Richard Perry said.
In other news:
• Elementary school students who made it to the All South Jersey Elementary Honors Band were commended. Those students were Katherine Skelly, Abigail Reenock, Keelyn Shim, Brice Sullivan, James Duncan, Sofia Carusone, Andrew Coffman, Owen Luther and Scott Vaughn.
• Students of the Moody’s Mega Math Challenge worked on a problem for 14 hours and wrote a 19-page paper on the cost/benefits of being a STEM major. Those students were Elle Butler-Basner, Hope McGovern, Kayli Marshall, Thorson Dai and Audrey Liu, who received $1,000 to split among themselves for their work.
• The next Board of Education meeting will be May 28 at 7 p.m.
