in the schools, the drug problem is leveling off. Sadly enough, it is NOT leveling o ff; in fact, it is CLIMBING.
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0 « / & t a C u p » I C o ^ e e by Joyce Landorf An open letter to the Art Linkletter family A l l o u r h e a r t s were wrenched apart with the news of your daughter Diane’s death. All swer. We know the value of educat ing our kids to the dangers of drugs, but we wonder: “ Is it quite that simple?” One teenage dope pusher said his sales really soared after his high school friends had seen and heard several drug abuse films and lectur s.
What we need to do is to edu cate our kids as to where a real and lasting cure can be found. First, of all, it’s found, not in a plan or a program, but in a Person. A plan can only explain the dangers of drugs, take a per son PHYS ICALLY off drugs and outline, logically, a new way of life without drugs. But in the ac ceptance of Christ, a teenager (or anyone) can be absolutely cured of the psychological dependency that forces him to seek out drugs. Secondly, we must tell our kids where they can meet this Person called Christ. Actually, Christ can be found anywhere, but here are two places where kids who are hung up on drugs can go, meet Christ and be surrounded by peo-. pie who REALLY understand their world and their need to find themselves. Help can be found in Teen Challenge centers. This remark able organization has an unbeliev ably high 85% cure record. No government or civic group can begin to show this miraculous achievement. Only God could have brought this about. Teen Chal lenge also patiently works, cares and understands the ordeals of rehabilitating these young people. Help also is found in the Youth For Christ and Campus L ife clubs in America. This fantastic organ ization employs men like Gordon McLean, author of We’re Holding Your Son (Published by Revell) a man who originated and found ed “ Lifeline,” a specialized de tailed ministry for teenagers in juvenile courts and youth correc tional facilities. This man works with hundreds of kids each year, introduces them to Christ and then carries on a follow-up pro gram that would exhaust a whole corporation o f men.
over the world p eop le have reached compassionately toward you to share your grief, and so do we. We have watched you as a fa ther and as a family, reacting and responding to this death, and have wept with you as you’ve tried to understand, e xp la in and make sense out o f a suicide committed under the influence of L.S.D. Your honesty to the press and on television was above and be yond the call of duty. We recog nize and salute the kind of moral courage you expressed. How can one ever grasp the sig nificance o f drug abuse and its devastating, and in Diane’s case, final effects? How can we ever help to stop the mad merry-go- round o f drugs that is destroying our country’s youth? Where can we find the answers — especially us — the over-30 ones? We care, but where are the answers ? What can WE do? Over and over your image, Mr. Linkletter, and your son Jack’s, came on our television set in those weeks after Diane’s death, and so often the press asked, “What’s the answer to the L.S.D. and drug problem?” You and your son stated un- equivocably, “ The answer is in educating the young to the dan gers of drugs.” Again and again you said, “ Education is the an
For instance, three nights ago we heard a teenager named Frank tell about his experience with drugs. Starting with one mari juana cigarette at the age o f 13 he went on to all kinds of drugs, L.S.D. and finally heroin. He was eventually jailed for selling dope and with many arrest records, (stealing cars, etc.) spent almost a year in jail. During those months Frank had the finest pro fessional help in the country. They educated, probed, explained and therapeutically solved his problems for almost one year, but twenty minutes after he was re leased from jail, he was “ stoned” on drugs, because even though he was well educated on the dan gers, he had not lost his NEED for drugs. A few months later, after he had hit rock bottom again, this teenager met a man named Gor don McLean and was introduced to Christ. It has NOW been four months since that meeting and Frank has had absolutely no de sire, need or want o f drugs! No, Mr. Linkletter, we don’t think education alone is enough. I f it were, we would be able to say, because of the fine profes sional help we are able to give these juveniles, the great pro grams, films and lectures we put
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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