The challenge of educating young people about the dangers of drugs in an ongoing one for a number of agencies in Bermuda.
Bermuda Youth Counselling Services, headed by Programme Director Eudora Browne-Zuill, is one of those in the forefront, working to "support a safe, healthy drug-free environment for our youth and families''.
BYCS come into the picture when a young person begins to show drinking or drug use related behavioural problems. Their school, or someone close to them, will then seek the help of the agency and from that initial contact all information and enquiries are kept in strict confidence.
"We work with young people experimenting with drugs between the ages of 10 and 24 and we also work with their families,'' said Mrs. Browne-Zuill.
"It's a highly confidential programme, so any inquiries that anyone might make is strictly confidential.
"When someone is referred to us they are given an appointment to come in to meet with a counsellor and from that meeting we try to decipher what their needs are and the person's willingness to participate in the programme.
If they are motivated to make positive changes we then do a complete assessment to get a full picture of not only the person's chemical history but their background.
"We take referrals from anywhere in the community, from schools, parents other significant others and other people in the community as well as self referrals. All people need to do is call in and make an appointment to be seen. Many parents come in for consultation first and then decide from there whether or not they want their significant other to attend the programme.'' Mrs. Browne-Zuill stressed the importance of the willingness of the young person to participate. She also pointed out that drug testing is not done by her agency.
"I believe drug testing is an adjunct to drug treatment,'' she said."A lot of times the kids come in and say `yes, I am experimenting or have experimented' so what are we going to drug test them for? If parents want to do drug testing we would guide them to the places where it is done.
"Once the assessment is completed we go over the assessment with the individual and encourage them to help us develop a treatment plan that they can work on during their participation in the programme.
"If they are willing to participate then chances are they will come in and do what they need to do. There are some people we refer to as `pre-contemplators' who are not willing to participate, but rather than turning them away we try to help them to see the benefit of making change.'' Sometimes a student would be suspended from school with the attached condition being that they have to seek counselling.
The three counsellors at Bermuda Youth Counselling Services are highly qualified; Mrs. Browne-Zuill holds a Masters in Criminology and is internationally certified in addiction services while Noel Hayward has a Masters in counselling and Lakila Wade a Masters in social work. Donna Jacobs is the administrative assistant.
When they work with the young individual the key to making progress in the case is getting them to feel comfortable and willing to talk.
"There is a lot of hard work in developing rapport with some of these young people,'' Mrs. Browne-Zuill admits.
"There are some who might come in who have issues around abandonment, sexual abuse, physical abuse and may have felt let down by an adult in their lives.
So when they walk in these doors what makes us think they are going to trust us just like that? "It's our job to assure them and reassure them not only verbally but by our actions as well that `we're here to help you, not to judge you'. They start by telling you little things but the more you work with them the more they see that `this person is really interested in my best interest' and they open up.'' Counselling is also done with the parents and depending on which the young person is more comfortable with they may see the counsellor separately or with their parent.
"When they come in the door they are assigned to Mr. Hayward, Ms. Wade or myself and will see the same person,'' explained Mrs. Browne-Zuill.
"We try to provide structure so we will give them the same appointment every week. We also do case management, trying to make co-ordinated efforts with other programmes with other programmes to see how we can meet the needs of the individual.'' The Bermuda Youth Counselling Services comes under the National Drug Commission, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education who all provide the agency with funding.
Figures compiled in the 1997 National Drug Commission's Student Survey (the last such figures compiled) indicated then a downward trend in drug use compared to previous studies in 1991 and '94.
Students were asked to report whether they had ever tried a substance such as alcohol, tobacco or marijuana. In 1991, 76.4 per cent admitted to having tried alcohol while in 1994 and 1997 those admitting to such fell to 72.3 per cent and then 65.2 per cent.
Similiarly, 43 per cent of students reported ever smoking a cigarette in 1994 versus only 33.7 per cent of similarly aged studies in 1997. Marijuana use rose from 21.4 per cent in 1991 to 28 per cent in 1994 before falling off a bit to 26.2 per cent in 1997.
In addition, students were also surveyed in relation to current use of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana...current use being defined as any reported use within the 30 days prior to the survey.
The most dramatic decline was in current alcohol use where figures dropped from approximately one out of ever two secondary students in 1991 to less than one in four enrolled in Year Eight and above in 1997.
In 1997 current cigarette use also declined from 1994 to 1997 while current use of marijuana was down from 1994, but still above the 1991 level.
Mrs. Browne-Zuill said it is difficult to put accurate figures on current use amongst young people and those coming to her agency "don't represent what's going on out there''.
"There might be some people who are experimenting quietly and no one's aware of it,'' she stated.
"There are some who might be experimenting but because of Bermuda's size and everybody knows each other, some people are too embarrassed - for lack of a better word -- to send their kid here so we don't always know exactly how many young people are doing it.
"The drug of choice of the young people coming in here seems to be marijuana and if you talk to some of those who say they don't wish to stop using marijuana they'll tell you they'll never touch alcohol because it's dangerous and bad for you, but yet seem to think marijuana is okay.'' Added Mrs. Browne-Zuill: "That is supported by some adults in our community who send very strong messages that there is nothing wrong with marijuana. That gives them an even stronger message that it's okay. Alcohol is a more serious drug, it kills brain cells, it alters moods significantly and does more harm to the body than most of the other drugs.
"Those other drugs can do the same amount of damage but over a longer period of time, while alcohol acts more quickly. But again, alcohol is more socially acceptable in Bermuda, it's a legal substance.
"In other parts of the world when you talk to other treatment providers they'll tell you that most of the people who come to their agencies are in treatment for alcohol abuse.'' The Bermuda Youth Counselling Services are now offering a smoking cessation programme as well as offering a family support group which is open to individuals who are concerned about drug use of significant others.
"We talk to parents a lot and while we're not saying it's alright to experiement, we help them to understand that at some point during a person's adolescent life they will experiment in one way or another with something,'' said Mrs. Browne-Zuill.
"We talk to the parents about the signs and symptoms that they are supposed to be looking for. A lot of parents are coming in just know that the person's behaviour has gotten erratic and that their school grades are dropping.
"We are also offering group sessions for young people whose parents or significant others are actively using substances.'' Mrs. Browne-Zuill added: "There are two smoking cessation programmes, one is the Tobacco Education Programme and that specific group is for people who provide basic information on the processes and effects of tobacco use. We try to help them become motivated to adopt healthier lifestyles.
"The other group is the Tobacco Awareness group and in that group we try to increase people's awareness of short and long term effects of tobacco use.
Anyone interested can call and arrange to become a part of anyone of those groups.'' The agency also offers anger management counselling which may or may not be connected to drug abuse.
"Anger is a communication style and there is nothing wrong with anger,'' said the head counsellor.
"It's how you express the anger that could be appropriate or unappropriate. A lot of people use substances to mask anger because they don't know how to express it. Anger also stems from a lot of unresolved issues that people have; they might be angry with a parent who becomes divorced, separated or remarries.'' About 98 per cent of the young people at the agency are boys. Youths who do not attend school are at greater risk and those who lack vocational aspirations are more at risk than those who have clear career goals already defined.
"Peer pressure has been known to play a big role, if they want to be part of a group they will experiment,'' said Mrs. Browne-Zuill.
"We deal with issues around low self-esteem and low self confidence. We talk to them about being a leader not a follower!'' Teamwork: The Bermuda Youth Counselling Services staff, from left to right, Noel Hayward, Lakila Wade, Donna Jacobs and Eudora Browne-Zuill took a moment away from work at their offices at Number 127 Front Street recently.
