SCHOOL PROGRAMS AIMED AT DRUG PREVENTION

JACKSON -- In a world where drug arrests inside schools are commonplace, Jackson Police Chief Marvin Sides can't remember ever going to Jackson High School on a drug call.

It isn't that the city of Jackson is drug-free; but somehow, students in Jackson are making a choice to stay off drugs.

Six programs in Jackson public schools in which older students help younger ones are High-School Taught Elementary Program (HI-STEP), Jackson Acting Motivators (JAM), Jackson Organization of Concerned Kids (JOCKS), Just Say No, Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP), and Peer Tutors. The philosophy is for older students to teach younger ones how to say no to damaging influences.

Jackson's programs are financed through a $23,700 Drug-Free Schools grant to cover sponsors, supplies and miscellaneous expenses. An advisory council made up of students and community leaders decides what money goes where.

In addition to those six programs, several others exist in Jackson's junior-high, middle and elementary schools. Marcia Clark, elementary school counselor, coordinates the programs.

"You would be surprised at the ease with which the programs run when people do their part and are interested and motivated," Clark said. "The premise behind all of it is that early education is best for prevention."

None of the senior high programs has trouble attracting children who want to participate, and some even have to direct students to other programs. The rule for participation is that students not be using alcohol or illegal drugs.

Two of the more popular groups are JOCKS and JAM. JOCKS appeals to athletes and JAM to actors and actresses.

Steve Burk, high school basketball coach, sponsors JOCKS. Each year he asks male and female athletes representing every school sport to be a part of his group. The athletes must be drug and alcohol free and have strong moral convictions.

After some training, the students speak to children in first through seventh grades about the dedication it takes to be an athlete. A track star may bring his special shoes or a basketball player may demonstrate a move to keep the younger children interested.

"It's really important for the high school kids to do this," Burk said. "They have a tendency to forget they are role models whether they want to be or not. I remember as a kid looking up to high school athletes."

But not everyone is an athlete. Some enjoy play writing or acting, and that's where Joyce Schroeder's JAM group comes in. Thirty students signed up this year, but not all may be able to participate.

The students write skits and act them out in front of elementary schoolchildren. Their most recent skit was "Choose Your Life," about a girl in a game show who can pick between three eventualities: a year's supply of alcohol; popularity at the price of an alcohol-related car accident; or a nice-looking, drug-free boyfriend.

Schroeder said she knows students who have quit using alcohol to be a part of her group. On the downside, she knows a student who abused drugs and alcohol, became involved in a homicide and now is in jail. He is part of the reason she stays involved with JAM.

"There are enough people I have cared about in my life -- students and friends -- who have used drugs and alcohol and have had much unhappiness," Schroeder said.

Heather Blackwell, a senior at Jackson High School, knows people like that, too. She plays Sherry Bumsted, the lead part in "Choose Your Life," and follows her performances with personal testimony.

Her parents divorced when she was 8 years old, and the reason was her father's alcohol abuse. She doesn't know where her father is today.

When Blackwell tells her story to the elementary students, some of them nod with understanding. She invites them to write her or any of the JAM members confidentially with questions about drugs or alcohol or problems in their lives.

While Blackwell has been offered both drugs and alcohol, she remains strong because she knows what both substances can do to a life.

"The people offering them would say, `We know you do it,'" she said. "I tell them they can say what they want because I know the truth, and I'm not going to blow my life."

Her classmate, senior Ryan O'Loughlin, is in Peer Tutors and serves on the Jackson Drug-Free Advisory Council. Between school activities and keeping his grades up, he think a lot about the future of our nation.

O'Loughlin said he hopes his work in Jackson will be duplicated by teen-agers across the country. If it isn't, the United States faces a disastrous next century.

"If we don't teach kids right from wrong, we are condemning Americans to non-existence," O'Loughlin said. "If we don't change things now, I can see a breakdown of American society."