Fallsburg SADD reinforces positive peer network

By TOM RUE

FALLSBURG - 18 high school students chose to spend a recent evening in the lobby of their school assembling "anti-stress kits" to sell to classmates as fundraisers. Why would these adolescents-who, as a whole, often get a bad rap-spend their free time at school putting items in plastic bags?

In Fallsburg, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and police officer Simmie Williams have a lot to do with the answer. Williams is a youth officer assigned full-time to the school.

Joseph Cuevas, 17, credited Williams with the success of the chapter. "I don't think SADD would work if it wasn't Simmie doing it. He's not a faculty member," said Joseph.

Stacy Gelb, 16, seemed to agree. In discussing respect and responsibility in dating, Gelb cited Williams' father, as quoted by Simmie to the group: "Where ever you pick the girl up is where you drop her off."

But the SADD chapter is a lot more than lectures by a police officer, however youthful and credible he may be.

SADD began as Students Against Drunk Driving, a spin-off of a well-known organization by a similar name founded in 1980 by some mothers in California angered by the assertion that crashes caused by drunk drivers are "accidents."

A number of SADD chapters nationwide voted to change their name a few years back, explained senior Valerie Stein. "They decided that fighting drunk driving was not enough. There were other things that got you in trouble."

"A lot of younger kids were like, 'Why should I be in SADD? I don't drive,'" Williams recalled.

The SADD chapter in Fallsburg has a reputation among students as a place where kids can feel safe being open with peers about feelings on issues ranging from substance abuse, to family, to teen sexuality. Joseph, now a senior, has been a member since ninth grade and is now the treasurer. "I always wanted to help people and I heard SADD is the best way to do that. A lot of kids in Fallsburg have problems. If we can help them in any way, that's what I'd like to do," he said.

Example? "Me," said Joseph, explaining that at age 11, living in the city, he started "hanging out with the wrong crowd"-meaning kids who did drugs and who encouraged him to use. Cuevas described SADD as "a help network" made up of "a better crowd."

On the other hand, Joseph said, while he knows lots of Fallsburg students who use drugs-ecstasy and LSD are among the most common-he hasn't seen any use in the school. "It's in the town. People smoke marijuana in the streets."

Joseph and others in the meeting attributed the decline in drugs at Fallsburg to the arrest of a student in school last year.

While Joseph and Stacy were talking, Danny Mitro, 17, entered. Danny agreed with his peers. "SADD is a good thing. It reaches out. It touches you, if you're into it."

Danny said he has disclosed feelings and behaviors to friends in SADD meetings that he thought he would never reveal. He agreed with others' comments about Williams' influence. "Simmie tells you stuff you just don't know. He tells you realistic stuff that happens."

Danny recently enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

After he left, Danny's friend Joseph commented, "I feel SADD has changed him." Sarah Morton, 17, agreed. "It's a calming environment. You can leave your aggressions outside."

"I come to influence people. I'm a pretty good listener. Right, Joe?" Sarah asked. Later, she mentioned that her long-term professional goal is to be a school psychologist or a school social worker.

Several voiced concern that sex education was not going far enough to teach youth about real-life consequences of sexual activity. "I've known [teen] mothers that wish they could take it back," said Joseph.

He and Sarah debated the merits of a special gym class for pregnant girls, as a neighboring district has offered. Joseph said this might make it appear that the school condones teen sex. "I think it's a good idea," countered Sarah.

They both agreed that health classes should be more explicit. Present curriculum "keeps it on the Disney side," according to Joe, which he asserted "isn't working." They agreed that teenagers who are old enough to have sex are old enough to talk about it.

Sarah and Joe found it hard to estimate how many girls at Fallburg have been pregnant during their years at the school. "I see their belly, but I don't know their names," said Sarah. "It really makes you wonder, how is this girl going to take care of this baby?"

Joe replied that talking about personal experiences in a peer group helps. That's where SADD can come in.

There was also mention of perceptions by administrators. The idea that students who wear one pant leg higher than the other deal drugs was labeled "ridiculous" and an unfair stereotype.

Complaining about teachers, Danny asserted, "If I get disrespected, I'm not going to talk back, but I'm not doing the damn work. It's not going to make the kids want to learn. I think a lot of teachers are scared of kids."

The moral support students receive from each other seems to be the most valuable aspect of SADD. That, and the role modeling of a positive adult to whom they can relate.

Most Fallsburg SADD members are involved in multiple activities-athletics, drama, or are attending classes at Sullivan County Community College.

[Visit SADD on the web at www.saddonline.com or the Fallsburg Central School District at www.fallsburgcsd.net. Mothers Against Drunk Driving is at www.madd.org.]