Even with all the programs conducted locally, the abuse of alcohol and drugs continue.
It is a sign of spring as expected as the greening of the trees and the appearance of dandelions: sessions for students and parents concerning the dangers of alcohol and drugs.
Now, why would the schools and area law enforcers do that kind of thing?
If you are cynical and assume they do it for the public-relations value, you are sadly mistaken.
Educators and the justice community do it because they view it as part of the job for which they were hired or elected: to protect us. It is prom and graduation season, times for celebration -- and times for concerns about young people seeking to spread their wings.
Among recent efforts to educate young people:
• Armstrong School District's "Education Today" is airing "Heroin: Lives Forever Changed," which features stories by area people who have firsthand experience with the drug.
• ARC Manor is taking registration for the May 12 Reality Tour at the Armstrong County Jail, featuring dramatic depictions of the painful, real consequences of involvement with illicit drugs.
• ARC Manor is teaming with Lenape Technical School for "Intro to Drugs, What Your Kids Don't Want You to Know," an educational program for parents at 7 p.m. Thursday at the school.
• Last Wednesday, "Straight Talk for Working Parents" was presented at Ford City High School to provide parents with ways to talk to their children about avoiding drugs.
In today's culture, we seem to quickly tire of mass-media messages, but the abuse of drugs and alcohol is an ever-new problem with potential to ruin a new crop of lives.
District Judge J. Gary DeComo, Ford City, recently noted that there are parents who still do not get it when it comes to giving teens beer at high school graduation parties. They see it as a rite of passage; police and prosecutors see it as breaking the law.
Arrest and prosecution of these parent suppliers could mean up to $1,000 in fines or even a year in jail.
Even with all the programs conducted locally, the abuse of alcohol and drugs and illegal trafficking still continue. and we can only assume that somehow there are those who don't think the message is relevant to them or who are so angry with society as to see their abuse and law-breaking as striking back. And, of course, there are the addicts. For some, the abuse of alcohol and drugs may be an indirect cry for help.
Combating the damage of drug abuse on our communities is less akin to being prepared to a natural disaster than it is being constantly vigilant for attack by an enemy -- a very real enemy right in our midst.
At this stage, there should not be a single entity that makes up our social lives and where we congregate that is unaware of the seriousness of the problem. All should be attentive to what we can do to resist its spread.
If there is a more serious threat to the quality of life in our communities, we would be hard pressed to know what it is.
As with homeland security, we are all on the front lines of this war.
