CHS Students Told to Aim For Natural High; Perils of Drugs, Alcohol, Facebook

All Cranford High School students gathered Friday to learn the dangers of alcohol and drugs, safety in social networking, what help exists for those already in trouble, and how to rely instead on the "natural high."

The CHS administration created an informative three-part program, bringing together the American Athletic Institute, which went over the science involved on how alcohol and drugs can affect performance, Cranford Detective Sgt. Gerard Quinn, who went over safety and social networking and the impact of the internet, and high school student assistant counselor Bob Segear, who discussed ADAPT, an alcohol and drug awareness program at Cranford High School.

"We wanted to provide an educational opportunity for the student body, said Director of Athletics Marc Taglieiri. "So myself, Mr. Segear, Mr. Gary Sorrentino, Dean of Students, and the rest of the administration, sat down and started game-planning a short program that we could reach everybody in the school. On my end, upwards of 60-plus percent of our student body participate in athletics, so we thought it was a good opportunity to not only have Mr. Segear and Detective Quinn present in certain areas, but also to bring someone in from the outside to discuss how the use of alcohol and drugs affect performance in student-athletes."

With the entire student body in attendance during three different sessions, former NFL player Dennis O'Sullivan took the stage on behalf of the American Athletic Institute. O'Sullivan, talked about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, and shared his life experiences in helping to get his point across to the audience.

"We do research on Olympic athletes, and we find out how drugs and alcohol affect performance," said O'Sullivan, who played three years with the New York Jets. "Today we're speaking to more than just the athletes. We're talking about not only how it affects athletic performance, but performance in the classroom, performance in music, the band, the stage, every aspect of life, and how alcohol and drugs are going to affect a young person's performance."

"We're here to do a little education for the high school students, primarily on making good choices," said Quinn. "And the good choices are related to alcohol use, drug use, and online activities, social networking, Facebook, Twitter, ways they're communicating the image of themselves online and how it relates to alcohol and drugs."

"It's a very important program, because we want to get the message out to the kids that alcohol and drug use is a very dangerous thing to get involved in," said Segear. "They have to be responsible adults. Once they put something on the internet, they have to realize it could jeopardize them in the future, when it comes to getting a job, because they are monitored by employers, colleges are monitoring these websites and looking to see what pictures and information is posted on these particular websites."

O'Sullivan made the point that each student is responsible for making choices, and that the right ones often make all the difference.

"It's a tremendous problem and unfortunately, it's killing thousands of kids each year, whether it's in car accidents, overdoses, things of that nature," said O'Sullivan. "We don't really stress that to the students, but what we try to do, is tap into their motivation, and say listen, you're going to spend all this time, whether it's in the classroom or on the field, get the best out of it that you can."

AAI's information is science-based. O'Sullivan used a slide show to explain how the brain develops from the teenage years to the early twenties, and how drugs and alcohol can affect brain function.

"We've done research on Olympic athletes, whether it's power, speed, endurance, things of that nature, and we tap into the athletic motivation and then we also use the brain scans to show them how the impact of alcohol is much greater on the young person," said O'Sullivan. "The young person is still developing, physically, emotionally, and mentally, so their development can be stunted because of drug and alcohol abuse."

Meanwhile, the Internet poses a potential problem not encountered even a decade ago.

"What the Internet does is it adds a sense of anonymity," said Quinn. "It's a perception, it's incorrect. But students are going online and they think they're communicating with their friends, but really, they're communicating with a much larger community. And the things they say, and the images they post have a lot more permanence than they might have had in the past. They don't go away. There's no unsend, or unpost on the Internet. Once it's there, it's there."

Quinn, who is forensic specialist for computers and part of the Union County high-tech task force, is hoping that these types of presentations will have a lasting impact on all who listen.

"The way to communicate with the kids is in consequences," said Quinn. "And a lot of times, the approach is, this is what could happen, this is how it could affect your life. To the high school kids, it's important things like driving, high school sports, getting into a good college, and the impact these things have on those choices, that the choices they make impact their ability to be successful, I think that's how you drive the message home. You tie it in to things that are important to them."

All in all, it's about getting the point across to each and every student so that they can make an informed decision.

"It's helping, whether on an individual basis, or a school-wide basis, it has an impact," O'Sullivan said. "We've worked with schools throughout the country, at the college level and the professional sports level and the feedback we get is tremendous."

"The goal is get people to make more intelligent choices," said Quinn. "We all make mistakes. The object is to mitigate that as much as we can."

"I think it's all about the education," said Taglieri. "Are we going to stop all of our students in our school district and other school districts from using alcohol or drugs? We're not going to stop them all, but we certainly have a responsibility to provide programs and educate them on a continual basis. We've always done that and I think we need to continue to emphasize it."

Segear, who spent 31 years as a police officer in Cranford, and presented the DARE program for 15 years, talked about the Drug for Youth Club he developed several years ago.

"One of the things I try to do is promote natural highs," he said. "We have volleyball games, we'll participate with the Ultimate Frisbee Club, I try to grab the first time musicians out of their basements and have their first public appearance at our coffeehouse. That's been a very big success, and one of the things I'm proud of. In five years, over 80 students have gigged out of their bedrooms for the first time and during the middle of the coffeehouse, all of us go up and make a presentation of how the natural highs are the way to go, that natural buzz that's running through your veins. There's no better high to get than a natural high. Nothing you can drink, smoke, or pop in the form of a pill can ever equal that."

"The beautiful thing about Cranford is that it's always been a joint effort," said Taglieri. "From the Cranford Police Department, the Juvenile Bureau, the Municipal Alliance, and their involvement in our program, and all the support we get from the Board of Education, and the upper administration. It's a group effort, and Cranford goes the extra mile and we're doing it again today."

For more information on the American Athletic Institute, visit their website at www.aaisport.org.