Avoiding a Scrimmage With Drugs : Rams Players Give Pep Talks in Pilot Program at Schools

Los Angeles Rams center Doug Smith--all 6-feet-3, 253 pounds of him--gazed at the eighth-grade students gathered in the media center at Orangeview Junior High School in Anaheim.

The subject was drugs and alcohol, and Smith, 28, was telling the students how he had learned in high school that alcohol did not mix with achieving the goal he had set for himself: to be a professional athlete.

“You may say to yourself, ‘I’ll go out and smoke a little reefer or whatever--that it’s not going to hurt me,’ ” he said. “But way down the line, when you’re stressed and the pressure starts hitting hard, that’s not going to be good enough. You’ll say, ‘I need a little something more to get me over the edge.’

“I say it’s accomplishment and the goals that you set that are going to help you with that edge. You’re going to be feeling good about yourself because you set a goal, and you’re working toward that goal. You’re not going to need a joint or pills or a shot of something to get you over the edge. I want you to think about feeling good about yourself. Start to set some goals. That’s what I’ve done . . . .”

‘Tackle Life Drug Free’

Smith’s recent appearance at the school was part of “Tackle Life Drug Free,” a drug education program co-sponsored by the Rams and Alta-Dena Certified Dairy. (A pilot program, the course is being considered for implementation in the 28 American cities where National Football League teams are located.)

Orangeview Junior High School is one of 20 Santa Ana and Anaheim junior high and high schools involved in the program, which was developed two years ago by the C. E. Mendez Foundation of Tampa, Fla., a private, nonprofit philanthropy for drug abuse prevention.

“Choices,” the student component of a program that includes instruction for parents, began at the start of the spring semester and is designed to “give the students information and emotional ammunition for their fight against peer pressure,” according to a statement by Boyd Clarke, general manager of Alta-Dena. “We want to show them how to strengthen their self-esteem in the classroom, not in the streets.”

“We feel the children are the most valuable asset the community has,” said Alta-Dena representative John Stueve, who attended Smith’s talk. “Children are exposed to drugs and alcohol a lot earlier than they were 20 years ago. They need to learn to say no to drugs and have the conviction to be able to decide that drugs are not in their best interest.”

And the school visit by Smith, a 28-year-old Mission Viejo resident, is just one more way to get the message across to the students.

As Orangeview counselor Susan McCance said, “Their parents, teachers and counselors can talk to them until they’re blue in the face, but to have a Rams player come out and say it, it’s somebody different and they’re going to listen differently.

“Kids need heroes and a lot of heroes are fallen heroes,” added McCance. “It’s easy for them to pick up on someone who’s messed up their lives with drugs and alcohol, but not always easy to see someone say ‘No’ to that. It’s an inspiration to have that real hero in front of them, saying, ‘I can’t be the best person I am and do drugs, too.’ ”

“Kids always have role models they look up to,” observed Smith, during a break between talks. “I may not be their role model, but if it (his talk) affects one kid and keeps him away from it, it’s been worthwhile.”

Smith, who was interrupted by one girl who asked to feel his muscles and other students seeking his autograph, spoke to two different groups of students, in addition to making a brief address to the entire student body over the public address system. His anti-drug-and-alcohol message seemed to have made an impact.

“I think he was telling the truth about drugs,” said Willy Raymond, 13. “If you have a goal, you should go for it and not have drugs interfere and wreck your life. I just know it’s bad to take them. You don’t need drugs to make you feel good.”

‘Stupid to Take Drugs’

“I think it (his appearance) would influence kids to stop because he’s a big football player, and it might change their mind about it,” observed Caryn Baeyens, 13, adding that she thinks the drug education program “is a good idea. I think it’s stupid to take drugs. It’s not good for you.”

Jen De Pol, 13, agreed, saying that the program has taught her that “you shouldn’t take drugs to make you high and get happy because it just gets you down. In the end it turns on you.”

The first phase of the drug education program, which is being taught over 10 45-minute sessions to Orangeview’s 500 eighth-graders, includes sessions dealing with self-awareness, decision-making, peer pressure and communication skills.

The second phase covers facts about depressants, stimulants, narcotics, hallucinogens and inhalants and their effects on the body. The final sessions deal with alcohol and tobacco, in addition to how to resist advertising and peer pressure.

Health science teacher Tom Norton, who teaches the drug program, said that using fear tactics on the students doesn’t work. “You don’t try to scare the kids, you try to educate the kids about the facts about drugs,” he said.

Norton, who along with the other Santa Ana and Anaheim teachers conducting the program underwent two days of training provided by the Mendez Foundation at Rams Park in Anaheim, said part of the program’s appeal to the students is that “it’s fun.”

Killer in a Box

In one class exercise, he said, the students play the roles of executives of a large corporation who have a product, represented by an unmarked box, which they must sell to the public in a commercial. To get the students stimulated in the exercise, Norton asks them whom they want to appear in the commercial. Suggestions have ranged from Bob Hope to Eddie Murphy.

Once their interest is piqued, Norton said, “I say the only problem is that the researchers say the product kills a thousand people a day. How many of you want to stop producing it now?”

The kicker to the exercise comes when Norton pulls a package of cigarettes out of the box: “You see their faces: ‘Wow!’ They don’t think of cigarettes killing a thousand people a day.”

Norton said he presents other situations that the students can identify with such as asking them, “What do you do if you’re at a party and the guy you’re with is drinking too much? Do you get in the car with him?”

“They’ll be honest and say a teen-ager is likely to get in the car,” said Norton. “We try to make them aware that that’s not the thing to do.”

The approach works: Norton, who has taught the program twice, said that the students are given a drug knowledge test at the beginning of the course and that scores have gone up 60% to 80% at the end of the program.

The students aren’t the only ones going through a drug education class, however. The Mendez Foundation program also has a parent counterpart, a four-week program called “Choices and Challenges.”

Poor Parent Turnout

McCance, who is in charge of the “Choices and Challenges” program at Orangeview, said the parent turnout for past chemical abuse prevention programs presented by the school district has been poor.

In order to boost parent attendance, she said, four of the junior high schools involved in the program decided to work together in putting on the parent education meetings. They also sent out invitations to the parents of children in 10 elementary schools in the district.

Despite the effort, only 50 to 60 parents have been showing up at the weeknight meetings.

While she acknowledges that it’s a relatively small number and that the parents who do show up typically are not the ones whose children have a drug problem, McCance said, “We’re thrilled to have the 50 to 60 parents.”

McCance added that some parents may be motivated to participate because Rams players and cheerleaders speak briefly about drugs at the meetings. But, she said, “I think the rest are just interested in getting the most information they can. They’re really concerned about their kids.”

The meetings cover such topics as: how you can tell if your child is using drugs, the importance of good communication and how to talk with your child about drug use. Guest speakers have included police officers who have informed the parents about the types of drugs young people are using in the Anaheim area and where they are getting them.

Seems to Be Working

Asked if she thought the program is effective, McCance said, “I don’t know yet, but I’d say (it is) so far. I’ve been involved in a lot of drug training and I personally like this program because all of the kids are getting it and their parents are getting it--if we can get them here.”

McCance, who said she has counseled students who say they started smoking marijuana in fifth grade, emphasized the need for the program.

“Drugs are out there and kids experiment,” she said. “I think one reason we don’t get a lot of parents out here is they don’t believe it. They need to know about it, to know what’s out there and what’s happening.”