Originally published in the Salem Observer 3/11/09

A new nationwide study that indicates teens have become more likely to talk to adults about drug use, but educators are not letting up when it comes to opening up dialogue between students and their parents.

According to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, which released the 2008 Partnership Attitude Tracking study's findings last month, 37 percent of teenagers surveyed nationwide reported that they had "learned a lot" from their parents about the negative impact of drug use.

With a 16 percent increase over the 2007 study results, this is the first major increase in that area since the study began 20 years ago.

Superintendent Michael Delahanty called the results of the study heartening, but he said parents are still timid about raising the subject with their children.

"Parents don't need to talk about the health risks or consequences about what would happen down the road, but the more immediate consequences, like the legal ramifications or a drop in inhibitions. There is more risky behavior (with drug use), like unsafe sex," Delahanty said. "With honest conversation, then the potential for those behaviors is diminished."

Delahanty believes it is the high profile reports of the consequences of drug and alcohol abuse among teenagers and adolescents, as well as their parents, that has sparked any increase in dialogue. He pointed to incidents like the recent death of a 16-year-old Massachusetts girl following an all night party as having brought home the consequences of drug abuse to parents.

"Any parent of any high school student ought to be having conversations with their children about what choices they're going to make," he said. "If (the study data) is true, I think it's a consequence of the attention that's been brought to the overall problem and attention to children who might face those consequences."

The Salem Youth Committee, of which Delahanty is a member, has spearheaded efforts over the past several years to break down the wall between teens, adolescents and their parents when it comes to illegal drug use and alcohol consumption. The committee has created a Safe Homes program that encourages parents to host and chaperone teenage parties and report suspected alcohol or substance abuse to one another.

The committee is also planning to release a public service videotape to raise awareness of the potential life-altering consequences of teenage drug use among parents. Delahanty hopes the campaign will dispel the myth that teenage drinking and drug use is a right of passage.

"(Some parents) have a 'boys will be boys' outlook or a 'girls will be girls' outlook or are afraid their children's social status will diminish if they're too strict about their children's alcohol use and so might turn a blind eye," Delahanty said. "We set our mission to minimize the acceptance of this because it is not OK and there are life-altering consequences to this type of behavior."