Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 26, 1994 TAG: 9407300006
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA CURTIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
"Do you want to get stoned, kid?" they ask.
How would your 13-year-old child react to this situation?
That's what Bonnie Cleveland, a Virginia Tech graduate student working on her doctorate in clinical psychology, wants to find out.
The role-playing scenario above is one of many in which Cleveland will involve 50 area seventh- and eighth-graders to test how well they can say ``no'' to drugs and alcohol.
The research, part of Cleveland's dissertation, will also test the effectiveness of drug- and alcohol-prevention programs in middle schools.
"There are a lot of drug-prevention programs, but we have no idea if they work," she said. "I wanted to evaluate children to see whether they have learned the skills the programs are trying to teach."
Cleveland said she chose 13- and 14-year-olds for her study because drug and alcohol prevention programs usually begin in seventh- and eighth-grades, when children may begin experimenting with drugs - mostly with cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana.
"They don't have a lot to do in seventh and eighth grade. They're bored," Cleveland said. "They're too young for clubs. They can't drive yet. But they're too old for playgrounds."
For the first phase of her project, Cleveland said she conducted a focus group of 12 children to help her determine realistic situations in which seventh- and eighth-graders actually face drug use.
The second phase of the study uses these situations to create scenarios for role-plays in which a child is pressured to use drugs by undergraduates assisting Cleveland in her research. The children's responses are videotaped.
Also in the second phase of the study, children must fill out a questionnaire that asks if their friends or siblings are involved in drugs, or whether their parents smoke or drink.
Everything the children say or write down is kept confidential. Parents must sign consent forms in agreement.
"It is very important to maintain confidentiality," Cleveland said. "Kids wouldn't tell the truth if they knew their parents would find out."
Cleveland, who plans to record the role-plays of 50 children, has tested 25 so far. Twenty-five more seventh- and eighth-graders are needed to participate in her study.
Interested teens should call 231-7631 and leave their name, grade, parents' names, address and phone number. Part of the money from a $5,500 grant Cleveland received from the Smithers Foundation will be used to pay each youth $9 for 11/2 hours' participation.
In the third phase of the program, Cleveland said she wants to determine how the children with good drug refusal skills are accepted by their peers.
With the children's permission, Cleveland plans to show the videotapes of their role-playing to 180 schoolchildren of the same age from a different county.
The children who view the tapes will be asked to rate the effectiveness of their peers' behavior. They'll be asked questions like: "Do you think this response would have worked?" and "How likable do you think this child is?" The answers, Cleveland said, will help her determine how children who say "no" effectively are viewed by their peers.
Through her research so far, Cleveland said she has found that the prevention programs that work teach skills and information to children, particularly social, assertiveness or relaxation skills.
"Old programs worked on attitudes - trying to develop anti-drug use attitudes," she said. "A lot of these programs actually increased drug use. Probably because around that age, kids want to rebel."
A key part of drug use prevention is giving children accurate information, instead of trying to scare them, Cleveland said.
"Programs lie to children. They say: 'You have to be careful drinking alcohol because you could die immediately,'" she said.
But children see adults drinking alcohol and enjoying themselves.
"Kids are not dumb," Cleveland said. "They're not going to believe anything we say if we lie to them."
Children who use drugs and alcohol to relax in social situations need to be taught social skills that will enable them to relax and interact with their peers without drugs or alcohol, Cleveland said.
"How do you talk to someone you have a crush on? How do you say 'no' to someone's demands? How do you tell a joke at a party?" she said. "Our kids need to have a whole range of skills."
Cleveland said communities need to put a heavier focus on prevention at an early age as well as provide constructive activities for seventh- and eighth-grade children.
"To have healthier kids, we have to put a lot of effort into that," she said. "I think we all need to take responsibility for teaching kids these skills."
Memo: ***CORRECTION***