Working to keep Rockville Centre teens safe

Rockville Centre Police Commissioner Charles Gennario and Art Rosenthal, executive director of the Confide drug and alcohol counseling center recently met with teachers and administrators of South Side Middle School. They discussed an extension of the “Challenge to Choose Wisely” series of panel programs in which the schools’ students have been participating, and they also detailed what the staff should be looking for in the way of drug use and gang affiliation.

Gennario and Rosenthal presented the staff with realistic scenarios and situations children face in today’s society. They also discussed the “gateway” drug — marijuana — and its strong potency and addictiveness. Also on the agenda was concern about prescription painkillers many adults have in their own medicine chests, and how that can translate into easy access for children.