Statesman Journal from Salem, Oregon • Page 6

4 almanac2 legislature4 irs 20, 1983 Ls Statesman-Journol, Sunday tsf If! Counselors help students with bewildering world 1 rM- 1 By JOHN FUREY 01 tbe Sutesman-Jounial She wriggled uncomfortably in a chair facing her school counselor. Dressed in blue jeans and running shoes, the McKay High School student talked of problems she has in common with many classmates: drugs and parents. She also mentioned relationships with other students. "That's a big problem," she told counselor Bill Lesh. "I don't make friends well." "I was going to try to get counseling earlier," she told Lesh, "but I didn't know how to do it." Lesh suggested she join group sessions offered by the counseling staff, but the girl said she would rath er meet with Lesh individually.

After a 15-minute session, she left the small office, promising she would return in a couple of weeks. The counselor's door remained open. In stepped a senior with a new set of concerns. The boy had refused to attend a particular class because of a problem he had with a fellow student. His solution was to run away.

"Honestly, I don't want to go back," he told Lesh. "It just ain't worth it to me." The student confided, "I've got a lot of problems in my life. My mom and dad are broken up. My grandma lives with me now." As if to add insult to injury, he said, "My alarm clock went 'ka- His problems were alcohol, marijuana TO if i ''n. I fluee' on me this morning." Lesh discussed some of the student's goals, then asked, "Am I the only one who wants you to graduate?" The student responded, "I guess so." He left after telling Lesh he would continue working to complete school.

Students filter through counselors doors throughout the school year. They often come for help in switching classes or for advice about college. But many are seeking help of a more personal nature. Drugs, alcohol, depression and attempted suicide all are topics of disj cussion between student and counf selor at Salem high schools. Those problems and others sur faced several times during several days of interviews and observation by a Statesman-Journal reporter, A look into the counselor's office mirrors some of that world.

It offers a lesson in contrasts. Pessimism hangs heavy on many students. Many struggle to avoid running from school and family. Counselors, on the other hand; often attempt to paint a bright pic ture for students, hoping to steer them in a more positive direction. Meeting with hundreds of boys and girls each year, a counselor attempts to reach as many students as possi: ble in a limited amount of time.

Lesh typified the counselor's optimism when asked about a senior who left his office after threatening tq quit school. I "The fact that the student is here shows me he still has fight left," Lesh said. Counselors ticked off a seemingly endless list of problems young people face. Child abuse cases have increased significantly this year. Drugs and alcohol continue to affect students' lives.

Many start their habits at the grade school and middle school levels. Economic conditions, which have worsened in recent years, also ap: pear to be making their mark on students. 5 "With the economy the way it is, children are really experiencing the stress," said Marilyn Herb, the district's counseling coordinator. High school students also are frustrated in their search for part-time jobs, according to Lesh. Many are depressed about the rising cost of higher education, he said.

The district offers counseling for all grades. The ratio of counselor to elementary student is one-to-378. The counselor to secondary student ratio is one-to-335. Counselors have different respon- Turn to COUNSELORS, Page 3B. DANCE DAY Twenty-two high school dancedrill teams from throughout the state participated in a dancedrill invitational competition Saturday at McKay High School.

At left, members of the McKay Royal Kilties march onto the floor and, below, Thurston High School dancedrill members from Springfield do their routine with roses clenched between their teeth. For results, see Page 8B. strong in middle schools and high schools, Richard said. He said he put that peer pressure to test when he decided to stop using drugs. "I lost about 95 percent of my friends," he said, placing a strong accent on the word "friends." Students seem to favor marijuana over alcohol, Richard said, but both drugs are used widely at the high school level.

Depression is another reason Richard and others seek counseling. He said he had contemplated suicide a couple of times. His girlfriend once tried to kill herself by taking an overdose of pills, he said. Pressures placed on young people, particularly those involving male-female relationships, help cause depression in adolescents, Richard said. He said he recently witnessed a third-grade girl in a hysterical state because she had broken up with her boyfriend.

Richard said young people are victims of television, which places so much emphasis on sexual relationships. He has attended peer counseling at school for two years. He has worked through some of his drug problems with his parents and other family members. He.is pursuing a career in computers, trying to get good grades and show people that he is trustworthy. In short, he is changing his ways.

Peer counseling, he said, has given him an opportunity to look back on his mistakes. "It's like my conscious stepping out in front of me and saying, 'Hey, you By JOHN FUREY 01 the Statesman-Journal He had his first beer when he was 8 years old. But he didn't kick his "square" image until he was in the seventh grade. That was when he first smoked marijuana. For several years, drugs played a big role in his life.

Now, at 16, the Salem high school student said he has stepped away from the world of drugs and alcohol. That step was greatly aided, he said, by support from a high school counselor and family members. Richard not his real name agreed to talk to the Statesman-Journal to help identify some of the reasons students seek the help of counselors. Sitting in a back room of his family home, Richard discussed openly some of his toughest battles. He had been hiding from parents and himself for years, he said.

But he started to re-examine his life, particularly his drug habit, during peer counseling groups. The groups are gatherings of students, led by a counselor, that deal with a wide range of issues. "It made me hurt real bad to see what I had done to others," Richard said. "I just couldn't handle that." Despite his early initiation to drugs, he rarely has used anything other than marijuana. He said drug-problem films in school health classes made him wary of hard drugs.

The physical consequences depicted in these films was good reason to avoid LSD, heroin, opium and the like, he said. But peer pressure to use drugs is 1 1 Statesman-Journal photo by Ron Cooper Counselor Barb Cross talks with student at Salem Salem High. fit Searchers find no sign of body vestigations, deputies said. "In a way, it is a long shot, but we still don't want to take the chance she might be here," Burright said. A SUSPECT in both cases, Darrell J.

Wilson, knew the area because he often used to swim in Thomas Creek at the Broken Dam swimming hole near Jordan Bridge, said Jay Bou-twell. He is a Marion County sheriff's detective working on the Eyerly case. Wilson, 30, committed suicide Aug. 22 after being questioned about Eyerly's disappearance, Marion County deputies have said. The Eyerly woman's father, Steve, her grandfather, Colbie Miller, and other family and friends aided the search by scanning the roadsides from two pickups.

The skeletal remains of the Good girl were found last Sunday by children playing on property of William Wainman, 42700 Camp Morrison Drive. Scouts aided Linn County deputies Monday in searching the area where the remains were found, Burright said. THE SEARCH continued Tuesday with metal detectors, but nothing else was found to aid the case, he added. In commenting on having the missing woman's family helping with the search, Burright said, "It will be hard on them if something is found." Linda Eyerly said her husband, father and others "wanted to be out there, what ever may come. "It went through my mind, if Darrell (Wilson) actually did it, there is a good possibility for Sherry to be there or somewhere close by," Linda Eyerly said.

BOUTWELL SAID an Intensive search also might be planned for the Little North Fork of the Santiam River sometime before spring. The area also Is a popular swimming area and was well-known to Wilson, he said. By LEWIS H. ARENDS JR. Of the Statesman-Journal LYONS Searchers had no success Saturday in checking 35 to 40 miles of roadside ditches southwest of here for the body of a missing Salem woman.

About 54 Explorer Scouts and advisers from Linn and Marion counties worked under the supervision of three sheriffs' deputies from the two counties. They were seeking any trace of Sherry Eyerly, 18, who disappeared last July 4 from Salem. SEARCHERS WERE sent to the Jordan area about five miles west here after the skeletal remains of 9-year-old Danielle Rene Good, Salem, were found last Sunday 20 to 30 feet from a rural road in the area. Good, daughter of Edwin and La-veme Good, 4702 Regal Drive NE, disappeared from her home July 31., Medical investigators still are trying to determine the cause of her death. Eyerly's mother, Linda Eyerly, said she was apprehensive as Saturday's search was starting.

I'd like it to be over, but I would not like to know she (Sherry) was dead," she added. FRIDAY'S DRENCHING rains letup Saturday to allow searchers a relatively pleasant day as far as the weather was concerned. From a command post near the Hanna Covered Bridge over Thomas Creek, the Scouts from Linn County Post 64 and Marlon County Post 18 walked the ditches and roadsides of the area for about eight hours. Dave Burright, a detective with the Linn County Sheriff's Department, coordinated the search. He said the Scouts attached pieces of yellow tape to bushes at points they thought deputies should Inspect for possible clues.

Several batches of deer bones and other roadside trash were examined by officers, but nothing was found that aided the Goo( or the Eyerly in jr 1 ww' rTi. SUrteuJturnal pbM by Gerry Lewln U- ry rf Sr 1 1 lm A 0.