Addressing substance abuse in East Rockaway

Do you know where your children are? According to a survey of students, 56 percent of them are drinking, and a third of those say they drink in someone else’s home. Seventeen percent of those drinkers are high school freshmen and sophomores.

“These numbers indicate that a significant number of parents in the community do not establish clear rules about alcohol and drug use with their teens,” said Kristen Mednick, a licensed East Rockaway Junior/Senior High School social worker, a member of the Coalition for Youth in East Rockaway and a school district liaison. “They also tell us that a third of East Rockaway teens believe that their parents’ attitude toward teen alcohol and drug use is ‘favorable.’ This may be directly communicated to youth by parents allowing underage drinking in the home, or indirectly communicated by parents leaving youth unsupervised or not setting rules and consequences for these behaviors.”

These and other startling statistics gleaned from the New York State Youth Developmental Survey prompted the Coalition for Youth in East Rockaway, along with the East Rockaway School District, to introduce a new program, Safe Homes Parent Network, with the help of Mednick, who also runs the Students Against Destructive Decisions program at the school.

The Safe Home Parent Network, a national program, helps parents and other adults establish a clear, consistent “no use” message about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, sending a strong message that they will not tolerate teen substance use. By joining the network, Mednick said, parents will have access to the names of others who have pledged to provide supervision to children and teens in their home, and will ensure a home environment where alcohol and drugs are not accessible to teens.

“It lets your children know that you care about their activities and have agreed with other parents on appropriate rules and guidelines for East Rockaway’s youth,” she said. “When parents join the Safe Homes Network, they are contributing to the creation of a new social norm in East Rockaway — a norm of adults discouraging alcohol and drug use and encouraging safer homes and a safer community.”