Bangor schools aware of drug abuse

Renee Ordway’s opinion column “Drug issue gets ignored by parents” (BDN, Sept. 15) deserves a response. Ordway wrote about her attendance at a meeting held at Bangor High School earlier this month to provide information on drug abuse to the parents of incoming Bangor High School students.

The program, “Ninth Grade Chemical Health Orientation,” is part of a series the school department has initiated to address: support for parents in the transition to high school, information on educational programs and school assistance, and involvement of children in school activities. Obviously missing the point of the evening, Ordway reprimanded parents in general and dismissed the parents in attendance, whom she referred to as a “gaggle.”

Ordway begins her article with a series of accusations against the Bangor School Department, none of which is true. For regular readers of Ordway’s column, this will come as no surprise; Ordway’s criticism of Bangor’s schools is a regular theme. The abuse of drugs by adolescents is, however, a serious matter, and the record of the Bangor school system in combating drug abuse should be set straight.

Far from turning “a blind eye” to adolescent drug abuse, as Ordway would have it, the entire school system is well aware of this terrible scourge. It should be understood that school systems have limited options available to them. One is education. The program for the parents of incoming students described in Ordway’s column is only an example of the role that education can play. In my 17 years with the school system, the Bangor school department has always had a chemical health curriculum that addresses critical use and abuse issues in both direct instruction and within other units of study.

She says of Bangor High School, “historically it has failed to take advantage of educational and prevention programs offered by outside agencies and hospitals, such as Acadia Hospital.” And in typical fashion, Ordway states, “I am sensing a bit of a change.” Really. Contrary to her personal opinion, the school department did not take “a good first step.” The department has been tackling this persistent problem for some time. The K-12 program engages resources from every sector of the community. She apparently missed the public presentation to the school committee last spring and the program description in the school department newspaper sent to all households. Where Ordway gets her qualifications to endorse “outside programs” is a mystery. These programs have a long history of failing to show results. To this writer, the answer is and will be parental vigilance with help from the school and others.

What Ordway fails to understand is that there are no magical programs offered by agencies to solve the problem of adolescent experimentation. Read the research. For our part, we will continue to develop and implement reinforcing sequential instructional activities that emphasize knowledge, self-respect and good decision-making. We will continue to present programs for parents that we hope will provide factual information and stimulate close involvement with their children.

Both the administration and the teaching staff are deeply committed to using education to lessen the likelihood of drug experimentation and addiction, and their thoughts and counsel were a major part of the evening’s discussion. That is why it is particularly disheartening to read Ordway’s assertion that teachers had to “give up” their evening to attend this program; they attended out of conviction that their participation could help lead young people away from this dreadful temptation.

Second, the schools make every effort to provide the students with a secure environment. Here, again, Ordway’s obsession with criticizing the school system has led her repeat a falsehood: “as far as I’ve been told drugs of many sorts are pretty easily scored at BHS.” She seems to have information that we do not have. Bangor High School has taken numerous measures to keep drugs off the campus. These measures include extensive security in and out of school, continuous hall monitoring, limiting access to the building, close coordination with the Bangor Police Department and the strict enforcement of penalties. Like any high school, there is probably drug-related activity, but it is severely limited. Contrary to Ordway’s opinion, school administrators and teachers provide the kind of safe environment where academic and extracurricular excellence can and do flourish.

Unlike the faculty, Ordway did not have to “give up” much of her evening to get the material for her misleading column. She came 10 minutes late and left a half an hour early. Apparently, she had heard enough. This series, of which this program was a part, will continue at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, at Bangor High School with the presentation of “Drug Identification and the Signs of Abuse.” Parents and the public are invited and encouraged to attend.

Speaking more generally, it is certain that Ordway’s unfounded attacks on Bangor’s schools will continue. I felt compelled to respond to this particular column because of the significance of the drug problem to so many young people and their families and because I appreciate the effort of the administration and faculty to build parent involvement. I understand that it is the policy of the BDN to allow a writer only one response to editorials and columns even if further commentary appears in the BDN. All who read her column know Ordway has an agenda, and I do not plan to make a practice of responding to her every barb.

Robert Ervin is superintendent of schools for the Bangor School Department