High school takes proactive approach to drugs and alcohol


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DRAPER -- A Utah school is taking a new, proactive approach to recognizing drug and alcohol abuse in students and helping them beat it.

Dr. Galey Colosimo, principal of Juan Diego Catholic High School in Draper, is shockingly candid. He told KSL Thursday, "Juan Diego has a drug and alcohol problem." But he says so does every high school in Utah, and ignoring it is a huge disservice to students.

"I would rather take the public relations hit in exchange for proactively trying to help students," said school principal Dr. Galey Colosimo.
"I would rather take the public relations hit in exchange for proactively trying to help students," said school principal Dr. Galey Colosimo.

In recent months, news stories -- like a six month investigation reported in Sports Illustrated -- have shown troubled students and schools that don't know or don't want to know about the problem.

Juan Diego administrators have made a conscious decision not to be that school.

Five years ago the school had a zero tolerance policy with drugs and alcohol; kids who were caught were expelled.

"We realized it was simply not practical and not working," Colosimo said.

They were also frustrated, feeling like they were being reactive instead of proactive.

Now, they're randomly drug testing students. Because Juan Diego is a private school they are allowed to test. They've tested 300 so far this year in a student body of 800.

When a test comes back dirty, there's a new approach.

"We sit down with students and parents and say, ‘Here is the information. Here are the facts,'" Colosimo said. "Now that we have the facts, what do we do to begin to help the student deal with it."

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Most of the time they find teenagers were curious and wanted to experiment. A talk with mom and dad usually fixes the problem.

But they've had to go as far as inpatient and outpatient drug treatment programs. They've also enlisted the help of community partners Draper City and St. Mark's Lone Peak Hospital. Physicians talk to parents and educate them about new drugs, like spice or ivory wave.

National studies find that 72 percent of high school seniors have tried alcohol and 40 percent have tried marijuana. Remaining uninformed, the school says, doesn't help anyone.

"I would rather take the public relations hit in exchange for proactively trying to help students," Colosimo said.

The school considers problems that happen off campus to be its problems as well. Administrators say students at Juan Diego are always students at Juan Diego whether at school, at a party or on summer break.

Email: sallof@ksl.com

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Sarah Dallof

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