Schools

Parents Get Crash Course on Dangers of Drugs and Alcohol

The Oswego School District's second annual community forum at Oswego East High School brought out 115 parents, and marked the first public display of the car from the 2007 crash that killed five Oswego High students.

Watch for a video from last night's forum later today on Patch.

If you attended Wednesday night’s community forum at Oswego East High School, you saw it.

It was impossible to miss. The twisted and torn remains of the 2001 Inifiniti sedan were parked outside the school, on a trailer, with flood lights shining on them. And above them, a sign, which read: “Five Oswego High School students were killed traveling in this vehicle with a drunk driver.”

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Wednesday’s forum marked the first time the car had been shown in public, according to Oswego Police Captain Jeff Burgner. On Feb. 11, 2007, an intoxicated Sandra Vasquez of Aurora drove that car into a pole off of Route 31 near River Run Boulevard. Vasquez had been driving eight teenagers home from a party in Montgomery, according to police.

Four of those teens—Matthew Frank, 17; Katherine Merkel, 14; Jessica Nutoni, 15; and Tiffany Urso, 16—were killed in the crash. A fifth, James McGee, 16, died from his injuries eight days later. And in August of 2010, Vasquez was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

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The five-year anniversary of that horrific crash hung over District 308’s second annual community forum, entitled “Illegal Vices/Fatal Choices.” For about two hours, roughly 115 parents and their children listened as members of the police department, school officials, Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis, and grieving mother and activist Karen Dobner talked about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, and how parents can (and should) intervene in their kids’ lives, before it’s too late.

If you think it can’t happen to your child, think again, said Brian Nehring, Oswego Police student resource officer for Oswego High School. Alcohol is easily accessible, he said, particularly if mom and dad drink it, and teens are using different methods (such as soaking Gummi Bears in alcohol) to consume it and not get caught.

“Alcohol kills 6.5 times more youth than any other drugs combined,” Nehring said.

But those other drugs are in use as well, said Justin Pan, Oswego East High’s student resource officer. He said students are getting prescription drugs from home medicine cabinets, and marijuana and ecstasy wherever they can.

And they’re starting young, according to Jill Accardo, District 308’s health services coordinator. She said a recent study found that 13.8 percent of eighth graders had taken a drink of alcohol in the 30 days before the study, and eight percent of eighth graders had used marijuana in those same 30 days.

Just this Friday, a 12-year-old Plainfield boy was charged with marijuana possession at Traughber Junior High.

Teens are even smoking synthetic marijuana, a substance that until recently was legal in the state of Illinois. The forum’s final speaker was Karen Dobner of Aurora, whose son Max smoked synthetic marijuana (often sold as incense) before crashing his car into a home in Batavia Township on June 14 of last year. Max Dobner was killed in the crash.

Since then, Karen Dobner has dedicated herself to educating people about the dangers of so-called fake weed, which offers a high more intense than that of genuine marijuana, but is mixed with unknown chemicals, and can lead to dangerous side effects. She formed the To the Maximus Foundation to help spread the word, in her son's memory.

Montgomery, Aurora, Oswego and Yorkville all banned the sale and possession of synthetic marijuana last year, as did several other Fox Valley communities, and last month, a new statewide ban took effect. Now Dobner is hoping that similar federal legislation will pass.

She ended her speech by reading a poem her son had written before his death, called “Life.” Its concluding lines: “Life is good, so treasure it, do what makes you happy.”

Accardo and the resource officers told parents what warning signs to look for in teens with drug problems, including a decline in grades, a more disheveled appearance, red eyes, dilated pupils, track marks, more secretive behavior, and depression. She also said to keep watch on home supplies of prescription drugs and alcohol.

What can parents do? Weis said the most important thing is establishing a relationship with your child—but be their parent, not their best friend. Go into their room and check what they’ve been doing, he said. Check their phones. Know who their friends are, in real life and on Facebook.

And he took aim at parents who allow their kids to drink at home, and who stand in the way of police officers called to those house parties. “What kind of a role model is that?” he asked. “What kind of example does that set?”

“I’ve had enough of seeing kids charged with horrible crimes like reckless homicide, or drug-induced homicide,” Weis said. “It all starts back at home. You are the positive role models for your children.”

Burgner said the car from the 2007 accident led to some emotional reactions Wednesday night. He said he informed the parents of the teens involved in that crash that the car would be there, and they were supportive.

Burgner said he is pleased with the number of parents who attended Wednesday’s forum, although he admitted, “We always want more.”


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