April 20, 2001 marked the second anniversary of one of the most deadly school shootings in the United States. Two students, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire on their classmates and teachers leaving 12 students and one teacher dead and injuring two dozen other students before killing themselves.

Shortly after the Klebold-Harris videotapes were released, syndicated columnist Mona Charen wrote:

Neither Harris nor Klebold came from what the pop psychologists call a "dysfunctional" family. Both had parents who loved them, and siblings who turned out all right. To understand Columbine ... we must penetrate the mystery of how non-abusive, ordinary parents can fail to produce civilized offspring.

It is fascinating to observe how we all struggle to make sense of the senseless in life. More than that, we believe that it is imperative for Americans in 2001 to ponder Charen's statement and then at least consider the following hypothesis ....

Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were so unconsciously enraged at the emotional abandonment and extreme double binds they experienced as a result of living in upscale homes where they were smothered with material wealth (at least in Klebold's case) and terribly neglected emotionally, that they projected it out onto the daily world in which they struggled to live.

Video games may have taught them how to execute clean "kills" with their guns, and may have had a numbing effect on an already numbed capacity for empathy, as well as a disinhibiting effect on their ability to resist their violent impulses. Television, cinema, and music violence may have had similar effects. But when all is said and done, kids from truly healthy families never, ever, ever, do things like this.

In December 2000, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said of the remarkable film Traffic, in which he had a cameo appearance, "I don't see how they could have made it without violence and still accurately portray the drug culture — and how degrading it is." On a cable news talk show a couple of weeks later, he even said that he thought people needed to see the film despite its use of "the F word" throughout, of which he did not approve.

In January 2001, Hatch was quoted as saying, "I was shocked and dismayed at the gratuitous amount of violence and profanity ... It was more than was necessary to reveal the devastation caused by drugs. I do not condone it. It detracts from [the movie's] anti-drug message."

In our opinion, Traffic is a near flawless portrayal of the ironies that are twisted and wrapped around and inside of one another within this nation's struggle to get a handle on addiction to drugs and alcohol. The White House drug czar's own daughter is a central character in the film due to her addiction to cocaine and subsequent descent into prostitution and near death. The film suggests, in its finale, that nothing is going to change until the moms and dads of America take off their blinders and acknowledge that, indeed, their own children might be addicted, and then set aside work and volunteer commitments to repair the damaged family life that is epidemic in this country as a result of overwork and too many activities on the part of both parents and children.

We sometimes call it "The Disneyland Syndrome" — if we allow our discomfort to cause us to deny that these problems aren't as horrific, degrading, frightening, disgusting, offensive, profane and profoundly sad as they are, then maybe they won't be as bad as they are, and maybe we won't have to make the small but difficult changes in our own lives that will ensure our children flourish rather than perish.

And so the irony of Senator Hatch's flip-flop is exquisite, and further underscores what we're all up against. We sympathize with the strength of the political pressures that can cause one to reverse his position on issues, and we applaud Senator Hatch's courage in being in the film and in initially supporting it despite his conservative reputation. We also strongly recommend that every American over age 15 see this film, whether they use drugs and alcohol or not, and whether they have children or not.

If Pollyanna isn't going to solve the problem of addiction in America, what will? What role does the media play in contributing to the problem, or conversely, to helping solve it? To answer these questions, we sought solid, controlled research to document the effects of television, movies, music, radio, advertising or video games on teenagers' use of drugs and alcohol. We didn't come up with much. In fact, Michelle Muth at NIDA said, "We don't have a lot on it."

The Board on Children, Youth, and Families — a joint activity of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine — convened a workshop in 1998 to look at adolescent decision-making. Here is what was reported about media influences on teens:

The media — television, radio, movies, and music videos — are part of the social environment in which today's young people grow up, and they can contribute to setting social norms. Presenter Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, noted that young teenagers spend up to seven hours a day watching television and that older teenagers may spend more than seven hours a day listening to the radio and CDs or watching music videos.

There is a tremendous amount of sexual innuendo and sexual activity portrayed in the media, and most of that sexual activity is between unmarried people, according to Brown. In her research, presenter Monique Ward, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, found that 29 percent of interactions between television characters is sexual in nature (Ward, 1995). She pointed out that drinking permeates television, with 70 percent of prime time network shows portraying at least one instance of alcohol consumption.

There is also some indication that the portrayal of cigarette smoking is increasing in movies and on television (Klein et al., 1993; Terre et al., 1991). Little research has been done to document the effect of media portrayals of sexual behavior or alcohol, tobacco, and drug use on the behavior of teenagers. Ward has found some evidence that the media may influence social norms. Her research found that young adults who watch television shows with high sexual content, such as nighttime soap operas and music videos, tend to have more liberal sexual attitudes and to believe their peers are more sexually active than do those who do not watch such shows.

Advertisers spend millions of dollars trying to influence product purchases. A number of studies have shown that tobacco advertising and promotional activities may encourage young people to begin and to continue smoking (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1992, 1994; Pierce et al., 1991, 1998). Pierce and colleagues (1998) estimated that 34 percent of teenage experimentation with cigarettes in California between 1993 and 1996 could be attributed to cigarette advertising and promotional activities (e.g., distribution of T-shirts and other items with cigarette logos).

Surgeon General David Satcher, cited in The New York Times, reported the results of a study on youth violence commissioned after Columbine: "We clearly associate media violence to aggressive behavior, but the impact was very small compared to other things. Some may not be happy with that, but that's where the science is."

In a doctoral dissertation looking at media effects on teen sexuality, Jeanne R. Steele of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill concluded that "... teens' sense of who they are and where they fit in the world (identity) influences the media they [pay attention to], how they experience and make sense of that media, and the ways they incorporate or resist media messages in their everyday lives."

In a controlled study conducted by Jean P. Webster of Columbia University, there were no effects of heavy television viewing on adolescents' attitudes about school. The only demographic variable associated with positive attitudes toward school was parental education. But, exposure to positive television messages about school did, indeed, create more positive attitudes toward school.

In a study of factors affecting teen sexual experience/abstinence, Mary C. Nelson of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found the most significant factors were the age the teen first dated, quality of television (night/day, soaps, MTV, talk shows, etc.), number of movies, fear of negative emotional consequences, and peer example.

In January 2000, NIDA reported the most recent, and stunning results from the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) $185 million Congressionally-mandated National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign:

Researchers have demonstrated that television Public Service Announcements (PSAs) designed for and targeted to specific teen personality types can significantly reduce their marijuana use. In a study published in the February 2001 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, researchers report that PSAs with an anti-marijuana use message resulted in at least a 26.7 percent drop in the use of that drug among the targeted teen population. "This study shows that public health messages can have a significant impact if they are prepared and delivered appropriately," says Dr. Alan I. Leshner, director, NIDA.

The PSAs were designed to appeal to the 50 percent of teens who tested high (above the median) on sensation seeking. Teens with this personality trait are much more at risk for using drugs, and for using drugs at an earlier age, than are adolescents who test low as sensation seekers. Dr. Philip Palmgreen, head of the University of Kentucky research team that conducted the study, said that sensation seeking is a "personality trait associated with the need for novel, emotionally intense stimuli and the willingness to take risks to obtain such stimulation."

In addition, the "My Anti-Drug" youth branding initiative was launched in September 2000, developed in coordination with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) and its member advertising agencies. It is a two-phased advertising and marketing promotion that begins with asking kids to describe their "anti-drug" — what stands between them and drugs. The $22 million, four-month program will then shift to designing and running ads that can be used nationally. The idea is to emphasize the fact that most kids don't use drugs (among 12- 17- year-olds, 72 percent have never used illicit drugs, according to a 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse), and that there are many other things kids do in place of using drugs.

Further highlighting how no aspect of the campaign to help keep kids off drugs is free from controversy, Newsweek recently reported that "Attorney General John Ashcroft, for one, believes the [media] campaign is a waste of federal money" even though "earlier studies by the University of Michigan, New York University and Johns Hopkins each concluded that anti-drug messages have significantly reduced usage among children in every age group."

Prior to the 2001 Super Bowl, 78 consumer, health, safety, and faith-based groups sent the president a letter urging him to oppose alcohol advertising that reaches kids, and accusing the liquor and broadcast industries of no longer living up to their voluntary agreements. George Hacker, director of the Alcohol Policies Project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said, "We have an epidemic of underage drinking in this country. Our children are at risk, and it makes no sense to allow alcohol marketers to increase the pressure on them to drink. We're asking the president to urge distillers to resume their voluntary ban on broadcast liquor ads, as President Clinton did in the past." Paula Kemp, Associate Director of National Families in Action said that "underage people are very much the targets, intended or not, of broadcast ads for alcohol. Those clever and funny beer ads, which have been among the most entertaining Super Bowl commercials in previous games, are especially popular among teens."

In 1997, NIDA awarded its first PRISM Awards for accurate portrayals of drug abuse and violence in films and television. Traffic is one of the winners of the fifth annual PRISM Awards this year. The 1999 results of a study commissioned by the Office of National Drug Policy and the Department of Health and Human Services showed that "people were depicted abusing drugs, drinking, or smoking in 98 percent of the top movie rentals and 27 percent of the most popular songs of 1996 and 1997." In discussing these results, Barry McCaffrey, drug control policy director in the Clinton administration said, "We do not suggest that we want to dictate the message. Drugs, alcohol and tobacco are a reality of American life ... But we are suggesting they need to be tied to the consequences that are realistic ... "

But looking at it from a different angle while commenting on the same study, Neva Chavez, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said that while the media are a powerful influence on teens, parents and the family environment still have a greater impact.

In 1997, NIDA released a comprehensive research-based guide on preventing drug abuse among children and adolescents, based on 14 basic principles gleaned from the research. Pay careful attention to the following lists. They give us the key to a national drug treatment policy, and bring us back full circle to where we started this article.

The three major early developmental risk factors for drug abuse later on are: 1) chaotic home environments, particularly with substance abuse or mental illness in parents; 2) ineffective parenting, especially with children who have difficult temperaments or conduct disorders; and 3) lack of mutual attachment and nurturing.

The five most important protective factors against drug abuse are: 1) strong bonds with family, 2) experience of parental monitoring with clear rules of conduct within the family unit and involvement of parents in the lives of their children, 3) success in school, 4) strong bonds with family, school, and religious organizations, and 5) adoption of conventional norms about drug use.

Dr. Gilbert J. Botvin, professor of psychiatry and public health at the Cornell University Medical College, is the director of Cornell's Institute for Prevention Research, and developer of the Life Skills Training drug abuse prevention program. In discussing the training of these life skills to kids, he says, "Some of us have learned these things by observing the behavior of adults while we were growing up, but kids are increasingly spending more time with other kids. They're spending less time with adults, so you have a situation of the blind leading the blind."

That is why it so warms our hearts when we see what people like William Doherty, PhD, are doing in their communities. Bill is a psychologist in private practice and professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota. In 1999 he started Family Life 1st, an organization which is described thus (http://www.familylife1st.org):

Family Life 1st is a group of citizens building a community where family life is an honored and celebrated priority. The democratic theory underlying this work is that the families can only be a seedbed for current and future citizens if they achieve a balance between internal bonds and external activities. This balance has become gravely out of whack for many families of all social classes, and retrieving family life requires a public, grass roots movement generated and sustained by families themselves.

We see four prongs in the so-called "war on drugs" that can lead to positive outcomes.

The first is what can be seen in Wayzata, Minnesota and many other communities, as Bill Doherty's program catches hold — parents finally deciding to be parents and leaders again in their children's lives, and choosing to create families again instead of blaming schools, the government, or the media for the problems that their children are experiencing.

The second is represented by the stunning results of some of the current anti-drug media campaigns, which are put together pro bono by 200 of the top advertising agencies in America in conjunction with Partnership for a Drug-Free America and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The third is for the government to step in and govern, by stopping the advertising of alcoholic beverages, in light of the industry's inability to police itself.

The fourth is portrayed in the scene at the end of Traffic, in which Michael Douglas and his wife are finally part of their daughter's life again through the miracle of chemical dependency treatment.

Kids from truly healthy families don't get in over their heads. They may become addicted to something, but they ask for help or help is offered and taken, and then everyone follows through with it. The gut-wrenching scenes in Traffic will stop when we all keep following through.

John C. Friel, PhD, and Linda Friel, MA, are full-time
practicing psychologists in the Minneapolis/St. Paul suburbs
where they offer individual, couple and family therapy, and lead
ongoing men's and women's therapy groups. They are internationally recognized
speakers and trainers and the best-selling authors of several books including:
Adult Children: The Secrets of Dysfunctional Families and The Soul of Adulthood.

Sources:
1. Orrin Hatch quote December 21, 2000, The Associated Press.
2. Hatch Changes 'Traffic' Lanes: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 Los Angeles Times Home Edition Section: Calendar Page: F-2 Morning By: Shauna Snow.
3. Michelle Muth, brief telephone conversation with John Friel, February 9, 2001.
4. Adolescent Decision Making: Implications For Prevention Programs, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1999. (Report on Board of Children, Youth, and Families Conference).
5. Surgeon General's Report, New York Times, January 17, 2001.
6. Steele, Jeanne R. "Adolescent sexuality: Negotiating the influences of family, friends, school and the mass media." Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences. 2000 Feb Vol 60 (7-A) 2275.
7. Webster, Jean P. "The role of television as a tool for enhancing adolescents' attitudes about school." Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, 1998 Jul Vol 59 (1-A) 0015.
8. Nelson, Mary C. "Community and media influences on adolescent sexual abstinence."
9. Interview with Dr. Gilbert J. Botvin. http://www.usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/0799/ijge/gj-06.htm "Confronting Drugs: Community Initiatives" An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Information Agency July 1999 Volume 4, Number 2.
10. Mona Charen's column found on the Web site of The Daily Camera in The Boulder News
11. Newsweek, February 12, 2001.

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