By Alan Burke
Staff Writer
—
SWAMPSCOTT — In the wake of Monday's meeting on the problem of drug and alcohol use at Swampscott High, Principal Layne Millington is hoping to hold a second gathering with parents, a meeting that would allow some of the give-and-take absent in the first.
Some complained at the meeting for ninth- and 10th-grade parents that they weren't allowed to speak. In contrast, questions were solicited at the meeting later in the evening for 11th- and 12th-grade parents.
Meanwhile, both Millington and School Committee Chairwoman Jackie Kinney say there is room for adjusting the "Chemical Health Policy," which was formulated at sessions that drew few people. The new rules call for kids caught taking drugs and alcohol, anywhere at any time, to lose the privilege of playing sports or joining clubs. Counseling is also required.
"Nothing is perfect," Millington said, in opening the door for changes. "The policy is not going to solve all the problems.
At the same time, the principal is not backing away from a belief that drugs and alcohol present a clear and present danger to Swampscott kids and that the situation is worse than in similar communities.
Millington had only just arrived last summer when he was confronted with five reports of students arrested for drugs or alcohol. Meanwhile, he read a 2009 survey of the town's youngsters that not only indicated a high level of substance abuse but showed an ominous trend for both marijuana and alcohol use among ever-younger students.
"Kids are starting to drink at ages 13 and 14," Millington said. Marijuana use becomes a factor at 15 and 16. The self-selected survey relied on the honesty of the kids taking it.
Once school started, Millington saw the pattern continue.
"We had a child on a respirator," Kinney recalled. "She was picked up completely inebriated and put on a respirator."
On a trip out of state, the chaperone for a school team called Millington, saying, "Some kids are in their rooms drinking."
Adding to all this, Millington, who was formerly an assistant principal in Belmont, found in Swampscott "a very blasé© attitude toward drug and alcohol abuse."
As part of their presentation, school officials cited a tally of 17 deaths over a five-year period, all recent Swampscott students involved with drugs. The number was arrived at after a conversation between police and a reporter for a local weekly newspaper.
"It's our feeling they learned that behavior here at Swampscott High," Superintendent Lynne Celli said.
The deaths were often no surprise, police Chief Ron Madigan said. "These were people that in some cases our officers could see coming along."
While he's traced no noticeable spike in arrests and doesn't believe Swampscott is worse off than other cities and towns, Madigan has long believed there is a problem.
He also believes it is increasingly prevalent among girls. "A girl was found unconscious in a bathtub," he recalled, "at home, when her parents were there." She had to be rushed to the hospital and treated.
"We've had a lot of serious incidents where girls were intoxicated or overdosed," Madigan said, adding, "Kids are exposed to a lot of social pressure."
Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, who spoke at the meeting, has long crusaded against substance abuse. "I won't say Swampscott is any worse than other communities," he said. "But it's bad out there."
Blodgett stressed that death is merely the high-end cost of substance abuse. More common is pain inflicted by reckless behavior, the possibility of sexual assault, property damage and lawsuits. And young people are especially vulnerable to these things.
Thus, Blodgett applauds the efforts of Swampscott officials.
"You've got to get the information out there," he said. "You can't get discouraged. You can't give up."
Parent Judith Brooks, a psychologist, fears the new policy will do more harm than good.
"I don't think the School Committee and the superintendent of schools are qualified to put together a substance abuse program," Brooks said. "And the program they have put together is dangerous."
She worries that barring students from activities is more likely to increase their isolation. "Then they enter the dark side. They've got this rage. They won't be turning to us, they'll be turning away from us."
Superintendent Celli also advocates a second meeting where parents can share such ideas.
"That was our plan from the beginning," she said. At the first meeting, "we wanted to give them the information so they could go home and think about it."
She doesn't view this as taking the place of parents. And she feels encouraged, she said, by the progress made already. "The number of incidents has dropped off during the year," she said.
As the mother of three, including a 16-year-old, Celli has been to any number of mandatory meetings on substance abuse. So she didn't think the Monday session, designed basically to announce that all students are now under the same rules required of school athletes, was an imposition.
"I'm trying to keep kids safe," she said. "I don't want to lose a child on my watch."
