UNH Dept. Chief, others offer ideas about GHS's alcohol/drug problems

If there was any good news to come out of a gathering of about 30 people for a "conversation" on alcohol abuse among Gilford teenagers held at the high school last night, it may have been some ideas offered by Deputy Chief Paul Dean of the University of New Hampshire’s police department. He described a program that calls for higher levels of monitoring and student accountability and said it has changed the institution's reputation as a "party school".

Dean was part of a panel of experts who came to talk about an apparent growing problem in the community. On Monday night, GHS nurse Meg Jenkins presented the School Board with the results of a 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey taken by the local high school students. The test, crafted by the federal government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, presented a “disheartening” portrait, Jenkins said, noting that 30-percent of GHS students had been in a car with someone who’d been drinking within the last 30 days, 57-percent had at least one drink in the last 30 days, and 42-percent said they’d had more than five drinks in the last 30 days.

Gilford Police Detective Doug Wall, who has been GHS’s School Resource Officer for the last four years, started out by saying he was disappointed at the relatively low turnout in light of the survey results. “We have 1,400 kids in our three campuses. I would think there would be standing room only in here.

“We have a drinking problem here in Gilford and Gilmanton,” Wall said. “I’ve seen kids walking around the halls with (Poland Springs) water bottles that were filled with vodka. I arrested a former student for having drugs on campus just yesterday.”

Wall said GHS students talk freely in front of other kids and adults about their drinking adventures and about upcoming parties. He said he’s sometimes called parents to warn them about possible parties and most appreciate the call.

But others have gotten mad, denying their child could be involved in such behavior. “I had one person hang up on me,” he said.

Ryan Barrieau, a substance abuse treatment counselor with Child and Family Services, said too many parents seem to view drug and alcohol abuse as a “right of passage” among youngsters, ignoring the long-term risk of the behavior.

“Kids who are under 15 when they begin drinking are four or five times more likely to have problems with lifelong addition or dependency,” he said.

But the counselor said although his office provides free or greatly discounted services, it gets many more referrals from school officials concerned about their students than from parents.

“I’ve had conversations we initiated with parents and they’re either aloof or stuck in denial,” he said.

Seventeen-year-old Gregory Meera, a GHS junior and the president of the school’s Students Against Destructive Decisions group, said it is probably more common that teenagers get their alcohol or drugs from their parents than most people in town would guess.

But UNH Deputy Chief Dean said his department has been able to change his institution’s image as a “party school” by using a pro-active program called “Choices Matter” that holds students accountable for their actions.

He began by noting that more than once he’s seen Gilford young people on the UNH campus during weekend party times.

And he said the problem has not completely disappeared from UNH.

“Alcohol is still the number one reason people get in trouble, followed closely by drugs,” he said. “We had 57 arrests last weekend and most were alcohol-related.”

In 1994, UNH began requiring students and their parents to a video presentation that outlines the behavioral expectations of the community.

“We don’t hand out summons (for public drunkenness), we make custody arrests,” Dean said. “You go through the full booking process, you go to court.

“And then you go to the university judicial system which in my view is a lot more strict than the district court system,” he said. For instance, if a student is found guilty of hosting a drinking party their UNH housing privileges are taken away immediately, he said.

The school also uses what Dean called a “conspiracy of care” so if a student is arrested their parents and department leaders are notified by mail. “So that Monday you have to meet with an administrator,” Dean said, and frequently their reaction is something like, “Obviously, we’re not giving you enough work. Let’s talk about your academic work at UNH.”

Dean said the approach — which also includes having administrators, teachers and parent volunteers patrolling local streets early on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and then “blanketing” the area with police officers has been so successful the department is now getting inquiries from other colleges and universities around the country.

“That truly has an impact,” Dean said of the approach. “Our recidivism rate is very low... Since we’ve gone to our strict enforcement in 1994 we’ve had a 30 percent decrease in crime.”

“Is there any reason we couldn’t do something like that in Gilford?” one woman asked Dean.

“I don’t know why not,” he answered. “A college freshman is just a high school student who’s three months older.”

Tuesday night's forum was one of a number organized by the Capital Regional Community Prevention Coalition.