TEAM SPIRIT IS A SOBERING STUDENT EFFORT

There is little question that grown-ups everywhere would like to find a way to stop alcohol and drug abuse among their children. Parents do what they can. Law enforcement officials deal with the results of youngsters who abuse illegal substances. Church groups and schools get involved. Legislators look for answers.

And the problem seems to get worse, not better.

But there is another approach. For the better part of a week, more than 100 high school students from the region gathered recently in Cape Girardeau for a Team Spirit Leadership Conference. The point of the intensive few days was to inform the students about the laws and the realities of drunk driving.

Sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Safe Communities Program, the Team Spirit program's purpose is to give small groups of teen-agers realistic information about the consequences of driving while drunk. Those teens will, in turn, return to their schools this year and work with other students to relay the same message.

From the looks on the faces of many of the students attending the Team Spirit program, they were getting the message. And they were taking it seriously.

That's good news. Students who are leaders are the best messengers when it comes to dealing with other high school students. They know how to communicate effectively and without the attendant baggage adults often carry when dealing with that age group.

Safe Communities is to be commended for sponsoring the program, and the 111 students who took part of there summer vacation to get involved in this serious and important issue have certainly demonstrated that they are mature and concerned.

If the message gets through to enough students that drinking and driving are life-threatening, the Team Spirit effort certainly will be worthwhile.

Teen-age drinking isn't the only problem facing high school students these days. But it's a good start for young men and women are ready to accept some of the responsibility for their own behavior.