TEEN SUBSTANCE ABUSE RISING, CARROLLTON RESIDENTS TOLD
The Dallas Morning News - Saturday, February 14, 1987
Author: Kathy Jackson, Metro Northwest Bureau of The News: The Dallas Morning News (DAL) + _____

CARROLLTON -- A week after a local high school freshman died of suspected drug abuse at a party, about 100 parents and city officials met Friday night to discuss what they say is a growing problem in the community -- drug and alcohol abuse among teen-agers.

At the First Baptist Church of Carrollton , paramedics, school officials and representatives of Mothers Against Drunk
Drivers warned parents that the problem is spreading in the community.

"They (abusers) are getting younger every day,' said Carrollton paramedic Jeff Jones.

Carolyn Sivess, president of the R.L. Turner High School Parent/Teacher/Student Association, said the community needs a support group to battle the growing problem of substance abuse.

"I think parents need to meet together to discuss their concerns and to talk with community leaders . . . so that we can all work together to solve this problem,' she said.

Jean Leader, founder of Parents for Children and organizer of the meeting, said her 19-year-old son, Rodney, died in an automobile accident in June 1985 only hours after drinking beer with a friend.

"The worst thing that can happen to you is to bury a child,' she said.

Mrs. Leader said she takes flowers to her son's grave at Hilltop Cemetery in Carrollton every day. She founded Parents for Children, she said, because more than a dozen other teenagers who died from drug- or alcohol-related deaths have been buried at the cemetery in the past 19 months.

Newman-Smith High School senior Brian Evans said he became involved in fighting chemical abuse when he lost two friends in alcohol-related automobile accidents. He now serves as treasurer of the school's SADD (Students Against Drunk Drivers) chapter.

"We need to bring the awareness up,' he said. "We need the parents' support.'

Charles Blanton, principal of Newman-Smith, called the meeting "a window of opportunity.'

"We're not here to lecture anybody,' he said.

Connie Murry, who helped organize the meeting with her sister, Mrs. Leader, said she was disappointed with the low turn-out of parents but hopes for a larger turnout at a meeting March 10 at the Hebron Baptist Church in Carrollton .

"Parents just don't want to face it,' she said.

Ms. Murry said about 2,000 fliers announcing the Friday night meeting were passed out to area residents and notices were placed in several newspapers. She said the March 10 meeting -- which will focus on teen suicides -- may be announced from church pulpits.

"We want to make parents aware that there is a problem,' she said.

RODNEY A. LEADER
IN LOVING MEMORY
AUG 1965 - JUNE 1985

RODNEY
OUR SON, OUR BROTHER
AUG. 31, 1965 - JUNE 29, 1985

Hilltop Memorial Park, Carrollton, Dallas County, Texas