Better Than Dope

One Colorado after-school program has saved kids from the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

By Harvey Milkman, published on March 01, 2001

Living is a word David never understood. To him living meant running for his life, from gangs and guns. It meant trying to avoid drugs and drinking. It meant being afraid. When he was growing up, he lived in a bad neighborhood. Down the street from him was a group of the worst people you would ever want to meet. He had to walk pass them every day. In his neighborhood, death was an everyday thing; he fell asleep to the sound of gunshots.

AT HOME, HIS MOTHER WOULD IGNORE DAVID and his sisters. She loved to drink with her men friends. When she let one of them move in, he would beat everyone up. Going to school was no better. He figured the only way to fit in was by using drugs and drinking. When he joined the Junior Reserves Officers Training Corps (JROTC), he found the common link was doing drugs. Because of his habits, he was failing his classes. During his sophomore year, he went to class a total of nine days. Soon enough, he just didn't go. He hated himself so much he even attempted suicide. He tried hanging himself and overdosing on aspirin.

At about that time he also started to eat a lot. In less than a year, he had gained over a hundred pounds. He was so alienated from his family that he barely spoke to his mom. Whenever she asked to talk he would tell her to go to hell. Then at the age of 16, David had a mild heart attack. Drugs were the reason behind his heart problems. Right then he decided to quit.

After that summer, he enrolled into school. His guidance counselor told David about our program, Project Self Discovery. PSD is a community-based after-school program that provides artistic alternatives to teenagers who have problems with school, their families or the community. Participants use music, art and dance to reach their goals. David signed up for the music program. Although his story is unique, his needs are similar to the majority of those who participate in the project. Artistic activities have proven to be powerful antidotes to emotional distress, drug abuse, crime and violence. In fact, PSD has evolved into a model for treating a broad spectrum of teenage problems.

At PSD, you will find youth with varied backgrounds and behaviors. Betty Jo, a 15-year-old African American, describes her mother as "a bitch" and "evil," and Betty Jo has attempted suicide twice. Her art teacher says she is interacting nicely with other students and "demonstrates an orderly, precise and methodical way of working on projects."

Rosa, a 15-year-old Latina, has decided to never again "bang" with her sect of the gang Gangster Disciples. Five of her close friends have died or have been murdered during the past year. She is considered highly motivated by her music teacher.

The usual outcome for these kids is enormous frustration and definite failure. These teenagers have different types of mental disorders and behavioral problems and come from radically diverse backgrounds. In the United States 10% to 20% of the 30 million youths between ages 10 and 17 experience emotional and/or behavioral problems. Forty percent of their waking time is "discretionary." In fact, the majority of teenage crimes are committed between three in the afternoon and midnight. For these teenagers a form of positive self-expression is vital.

The inspiration for PSD came from viewing substance abuse as just one of many forms of dangerous pleasure-seeking behaviors. Any action that deposits dopamine in the brain's reward center--be it alcohol, sex or cocaine--can trigger addiction. Yet rather than drugs, people can actually bring about self-induced changes in brain chemistry. The most important psychological challenge of our time is to bring about these changes through optimal living or natural highs.

Drugs and alcohol are really just "chemical prostitutes," counterfeit molecules that compromise the clockwork of nature's most complex and delicate entity--the human brain. According to the annual Monitoring the Future Survey, more than 40% of high-school 10th graders reported having "been drunk" sometime in the past year. About 35% of high school seniors engaged in binge drinking (having five or more drinks at a time), and approximately 20% of high school seniors smoked pot.

PSD was founded in September 1992 as the result of a national grant through the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. The grant was awarded to Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, whose mission is to provide cross-cultural arts expression to audiences, artists and students. The project was designed to show that natural highs could serve as viable alternatives to drug abuse and associated high-risk lifestyles. Teenagers have been targeted because of their extreme vulnerability to substance abuse, crime and violence. The most common causes of death among young adults between ages 16 and 24 are homicide and suicide. Here, Juan talks about his brush with death:

THE 'HOOD