CHILDREN AND DRUGS: FREEMASONRY'S ROLE
by Lawrence J. Chisholm, Ex. Dir. National Masonic Foundation for Children
In the seven years since the Conference of Grand Masters established this
effort to prevent drug and alcohol abuse among children, one insight stands out
with frightening clarity: The pervasiveness of the problem is still
underestimated at all levels of our society and the solution is dangerously
misunderstood even among many of those whose duty it is to pursue the solution.
The frame of reference for these misunderstandings was discussed in our last
Short Talk Bulletin. This STB deals with Freemasonry's role.
A decade ago, one Grand Lodge (Pennsylvania) initiated support of what has
come to be known as ' Masonic Model" Student Assistance Training. The training
has become recognized as the most effective long-term weapon we have against the
problem of addiction.
Further Information
The Masonic Foundation for Children has a great many publications describing
its overall program and Grand Lodge participation. If you would like more
information, please write the National Masonic Foundation for Children. P.O. Box
28()00, Washington, D.C. 20038-8000, or call 202-331-1933 (FAX: 202-33 1 I 972).
The following list of Short Talk Bulletins also deal with the subject of
Children and Drugs.
7-86 'Good Kids, Hurt Kids, Bad Kids" 5-87 Masons Care About Children 1-89
Drug and Alcohol Abuse: A Masonic Response 5-92 Drug and Alcohol Abuse Problem:
Lodges Can Help 8-94 Children and Drugs (Part 1)
How It Works
It is first of all important to mention that there are several forms of
student assistance in operation today, some of which are not Prevention programs
at all, but are purely informational or, in some cases, vocational or other
counseling programs bearing the name "Student Assistance Training."
The "Masonic Model" contains many of the same components of all such training
(e.g., presentations on "The Pharmacological Effects of Drugs," "Characteristics
of an Addictive Family," etc.) but, to bear the name "Masonic Model," the
Training must consist of two key components: Identification and Assistance.
These two words refer to specific actions.
Heavy training emphasis is placed on Identification, which means learning how
to identify those children who are at-risk of using drugs, ideally, before they
begin addictive use. This is Prevention at its best, and we have learned enough
over the last decades of the drug epidemic to know how to do this kind of early
Identification. If the child is not helped early in the addictive process,
Prevention is no longer possible and a far costlier process, Treatment, becomes
necessary.
Equally heavy training emphasis is placed on Assistance, i.e., once the
Identification is made, what are the several appropriate actions to take to
intervene in and interrupt the addictive cycle? This can range from a simple
conversation with an adult in the school who has a particular understanding of
the child's situation, to a full meeting with the Core Team, the child, and the
parents.
"Masonic Model" training can be either a 3-day or a 5-day session with Core
Teams of 5-7 educators having been chosen from ten area schools. The Core Teams
typically are made up of teachers, the school nurse, guidance counselor, someone
from Administration and sometimes a maintenance or cafeteria worker if it is
known they have a unique rapport with the students!
No one who has attended a "Masonic Model" session has ever failed to come
away with the feeling that they have seen the solution in action, that solving
the drug problem in America is possible, and that potential benefits to our
country are enormous.
Based on experience so far, it is easy to see that if "Masonic Model" trained
Core Teams were in place in each school in America, we would be beginning to
address the very causes of the drug problem in America. This is an admittedly
large vision, but let's look at some numbers.
In the Grand Lodge jurisdiction where "Masonic Model" training has operated
the longest, over 7,000 educators have been trained-and over 45,000 at-risk
children have been identified and assisted!
Cost for training ten Core Teams, for example, for ten schools can range
anywhere from $9,000 to $14,000, depending on variables such as location,
facilities, etc. Compare that with the cost of a 28day treatment for one
addicted teen--$15,000 and up, at even the most reputable and effective
treatment centers!
If that is not impressive enough, compare the cost of "Masonic Model"
training to the billions of dollars that have been wasted over the last 20 years
on programs that have repeatedly shown an inability to change anything.
We will win the War on Drugs only when we consistently direct our time,
energy, and dollars toward solutions that work, solutions like "Masonic Model"
Student Assistance Training, where we address causes rather than endless
symptoms, where we pursue Prevention of addictive use, rather than waiting until
the child is lost to us.
Freemasonry can take pride in its support of this wonderful program. The
educational community has been unstinting in its praise of our efforts. Let us
continue to help them to help us.
What Have We Learned?
In our seven years of work, certain key elements have become clear that form
a basis for success.
We have learned that bureaucracy seems incapable of solving the problem and,
in fact, there have been instances where they have formed part of the problem,
attempting to obstruct rather than assist. There are many examples but, in one
memorable case, the State agency responsible for pursuing solutions to the drug
and alcohol problem was obstructing any program that was not their own even in
cases where they had themselves failed to implement a program. Our position from
the beginning has been that we need more, not less; that there must be an
attitude of being inclusive rather than exclusive if we are to solve this
terrible problem. The obstructionism didn't work, by the way. One of
Freemasonry's most successful programs is now in place in that State.
There are many examples of where a no bureaucratic approach works better. In
one eastern Grand Lodge jurisdiction, one Core Team included the school janitor
because the schoolchildren frequently sought his help and advice. Within a few
months after the Core Team was trained and returned to the school setting, the
janitor evidenced previously unnoticed managerial skills, was made Chairman of
the Team, and that school has become a model for how to clean up a drug problem.
We have learned that no one is exempt from being affected by the continuing
tragedy of what the professionals in the field refer to as "alcohol and other
drug addiction." "Masonic Model" trainings frequently are attended by Masonic or
educational observers from other jurisdictions considering participation. At a
1988 training in the Midwest were four representatives from a New England
jurisdiction, including, as head of the delegation, the chief of educational
services from the State. For the first two days he was surprisingly negative in
his occasional comments, maintaining that this was just another program. Just
before noon on the third day, he stood with tears in his eyes and declared, "If
this program had been available in (our State) six years ago, my son might still
be alive." That New England jurisdiction now has one of the country's most
successful "Masonic Model" programs.
At a 1992 Midwestern training, the typical midweek evening session was taking
place where a recovered teen addict and a parent (in this case, a young girl and
her mother) were describing their experiences. The objective of such a
presentation is to make the point that if a Core Team is in place, years of
heartache and agony can be cut short or avoided altogether. When the teen
reached the point where she described her first drug use in the third grade, a
teacher on one of the Core Teams being trained burst into tears and cried out,
"Julie! I was your teacher in the fifth grade! I didn't know! I had no idea!"
The "Masonic Model" trainer put her arm around the teacher and said, "That's
part of what we are here for. After this training, you will never again not
know."
We have learned to be patient. One High School principal was vocally
pessimistic that anything could be done about the problem of children and drugs.
Since undergoing "Masonic Model" training, he has given numerous talks
throughout his entire State, at his own cost, urging others to adopt our
program.
Similarly, another school principal from an exclusive private school was
overheard to remark during a break in a 1990 training session that he didn't
know why his boss had asked him to attend because private schools such as his
didn't have such problems. He was informed that statistics show that private
schools have a greater drug and alcohol problem, although more well-hidden, than
public schools; he was promised that, if he kept his mind open during the
training, he would see a different school when he went back. That principal has
returned to subsequent training sessions to tell others of his eye-opening
experiences.
Mike, a teacher asked by his school to attend a "Masonic Model" training,
arrived and openly announced, "This is going to be nonsense. Nothing can stop
these kids from what they're doing," After training, and after a few months of
Core Team activity back at his school, Mike asked to become a part of that
State's "Masonic Model" training team and took a pay cut to do so.
We have learned that freemasonry is saving children's lives. A Midwestern
Core Team trained in 1993 was back in the school setting only a week when a Team
member walking down the hall passed three whispering teens and overheard some
key words she had been trained to recognize. A suicide pact was revealed and
those children's lives were saved.
We have learned that, all across the country, Freemasonry's "Masonic Model"
training is not only saving children's lives--many thousands of them but it is
also turning those lives around so that they become healthy, productive
citizens.
Future Opportunity
One promising development now being explored with the Department of Justice
and in several Grand Lodge jurisdictions is the opportunity presented by
coordination of efforts between the DARE program and "Masonic Model" Core Teams.
The advantages to the two programs working within the same school building
within close time frames are valuable and far-reaching.
DARE, as most already know, is a program presented to classrooms in the
school setting by police officers, usually within the same day. DARE is a unique
information program that reaches the kids in both a caring and effective way. So
effective, in fact, that the very children who are of most concern, the at-risk
children in pain, are often stimulated to reach out for help; but their gesture
may not come, sometimes, until days or even weeks later. By coordinating the two
programs, the effectiveness of the DARE information that is presented to the
kids by a caring officer is combined with a "Masonic Model" Core Team in place
to 'pick up the pieces' should a child reach out or respond later.
Now being discussed are (I) presentations by DARE officers to "Masonic Model"
training sessions so that educators, any Freemasons present, the Core Teams, and
the officers can become familiar with each others' program, and then (2)
coordination of DARE presentations in schools with trained Core Teams. There is
great promise for making maximum use of resources, something the entire War on
Drugs has sorely neglected.
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