Iowa Perpectives Monday February 26 1979

Good evening and welcome to Monday news 5 special edition I'm Phil Wilson, and I'm Twyla Young tonight we'll take a look at a new social trend kids more and more of them are getting hooked on booze and Somebody gave me a beer And I drank it And I just got so drunk And I was getting with all the guys and talking to everyone having all the girls get mad at me But it wasn't like that when the guys who talked to me, and I felt good I wasn't scared anymore And we're going to look at one of the newest things in elementary education. It's also one of the oldest We Emphasize the basic skills we do Demand some respect for authority in the school one was doing some teachers we required a homework we Spend probably thirty to fifty minutes more a day when the basic skills and does the average routine and after 20 years Superman is back on the silver screen and Following the Man of Steel is a barrage of money-making gimmicks A month ago, we couldn't keep the Superman books in stock But now it's slowed down. It's always that way when the movie first hits I mean when we first Stitch the interest is tremendous, and you just can't keep up with the demand the interest on the Superman Isn't a sustain hasn't been the sustained as long as the interest in the Star Wars or the star track? With all the prescription pills that are being passed around these days there's increasing concern that we're becoming a nation of drug addicts the Old-time favorite drug of course is something most of us are very familiar with its liquor booze the all-american drug At almost any social gathering of American Teenagers there is an increasing use of alcohol During the drug scare of recent years many well-meaning parents Suggested alcohol as a safer alternative to marijuana and pills Now the kids are taking them up on it and a growing number of sons and daughters are becoming teenage alcoholic Teenage drinking of course isn't new most of us can remember taking that first illegal drink It was part of growing up like trying that first cigarette it was cool But what has changed is that young people today are drinking at an earlier age? They're drinking more often and drinking greater volume according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism the average age that adolescents take their first drink is 13 the Institute estimates that 40% of American kids have tasted alcohol by the age of 10 and that more than 3 million Teenagers are problem drinkers Drinking by young people has become such a problem that millions of dollars are being spent for counseling and prevention programs One of them is here at Iowa State University I know majority of students maintain Every fight it means they go to the mainland shop the trade was social a good time. It's because part of their routine They don't realize that they're drinking All this time they know they're gonna go and do this and they don't really give it the conscious thought You know they're gonna go and get drunk Because part of their habit, and they don't really consciously Deal with it on that level this class is studying the effects of alcohol on the human system And what the complications can lead to? dancing which occurs right here It's not really just passing out Passing out is like your body's last and most beautiful defense mechanism. It's like your body is saying Hey, maybe you want to die, but I don't Doubt you will go Your body will actually knock you out to keep you for a mom from drinking that lethal dose The part of your brain that controls those functions that keep you alive It's so well protected that by the time alcohol penetrates down there. You'll penetrate through this part It activates a stop mechanism Every year we hear of some college student who has taken a fatal overdose of alcohol Death often occurs because the person's body wasn't equipped to handle an overwhelming volume This particular individual was not alcohol. He was an ordinary person that well Consumed too much alcohol overdid it and when sleep did not wake up This guy had consumed something like 24 drinks in three hours going through a habit of cracking the safest thing to say is That this kind of alcohol overdose Usually occurs after you consume a large amount alcohol very fast very Often occurs after doing some yeah extremely foolish like chucking hard liquor Students in the class are shown this film which presents several case studies on how young people can get hooked on booze Many of the teenagers in this film say they started an alcohol Because it helped ease the pain of stress and made them more confident in social situations I'm 17 now and I began drinking when I was 13 I Went to New Year's Eve party and what this guy and I hadn't really gone with guys before that And the whole time at the party it was so uncomfortable. I was so scared and all the people are older, and I didn't know them and they're all drinking and Somebody gave me a beer and I drank it, and I just got so drunk and I was Getting with all the guys and talking to everyone having all the girls getting mad at me But it was good like that When the guys who talked to me and I felt good I Wasn't scared anymore aside from the rise in teenage drinking another drug phenomenon is affecting both teenagers and adults authorities find there's an increasing abuse of prescription drugs especially Tranquilizers sometimes they're used in combination with alcohol and anyone who keeps up with the news will tell you the mixture can be fatal Donna sharp of Des Moines turned to drugs and alcohol after her marriage fell apart She went on a three-year binge, and she's lucky to be alive I went to a psychiatrist and I was given a number of drugs and Valium was the one that finally I became addicted to I Believe that I would be addicted to any prescription drugs though. That's mood-altering anything codeine How many different drugs were you prescribed? Well by the end of my career which was about three years. I was taking ten prescriptions I had ten active prescriptions from the same doctor from the same doctor and The last month when my Final crises came I had been taking somewhere between 30 and 60 pills a day a Des Moines, man Who we shall call Tony? recently kicked a long-term addiction to purgin on a strong drug often prescribed as a painkiller it almost killed Tony I started having bad headaches Bad headaches, and I went to a doctor and he gave me a prescription for fucked up And I got hooked on it good Well you say you got hooked on it, you mean pretty soon the prescription wasn't enough Yeah, right, so I started going to other doctors to get more of it How many were you originally taking for pain a day when I first started one every six hours And when you finally really got addicted how many were you taking twenty a day? What do you day twenty a day? It got to be a system I ain't got so then I would get up in the morning and start out by taking a diet pill I waited 78 pounds at that time To get me going and drink a lot of coffee and then about mid-morning I couldn't handle it and I would begin to shake and So I would start taking Valium and I can remember having a schedule of what time to take what? But I knew I was abusing guys when I do up in the morning I got to have a pill before I could do anything like a Alcoholics got to have a drink before I can shave So I'd get up. They'd wake me up sometimes four o'clock in the morning. Yeah, take them pills. I lost weight I Didn't eat. I lost a year of my memory in your judgment how long can a person take Percodan Before they become addicted to it. I say if anybody takes cooking in over three months. They're hooked on it Because it's just that strong with Jack and Dragan So a lot of people are running around hooked housewives, and what-have-you right I would say so The thing that happens that people don't understand is that when you're taking prescription drugs and drinking It's not like having two pills or two drinks it multiplies rather than adds Together and the effect does it can be deadly It will ruin you after a while Because it will drag you down and it will get so that you can't do nothing until you take that pill because If you're if you're sitting at home and your wife and kids wanna go someplace You got to take that pill before you can get up and do anything That's true And if you ain't got that pill you can stay right there, well. Yep because you ain't got enough energy to move Just wait, what's then runs your life? It does it runs your life Both Tony and Donna say drug counselors help them kick their habit But both of them stress the single most important weapon in beating an addiction is the strong-minded Determination to do it yourself has to be the key ingredient Coming up next we'll visit several classrooms in Des Moines to find out what's new and what's not so new in elementary education and how to tell the difference One of the more alarming things about public education these days is the apparent drop in the overall achievement of students? Whatever the cause of that one of the results of the drop is a shift in emphasis especially in elementary education So we checked around to see where early education is headed these days These students studying with familiar books sitting in ordered rows listening to instructions from a teacher These students work with the materials that they choose Explore they're prepared environment and are assisted with their self education by an adult who indirectly leads their learning Is This the newest thing in education No, this is Montessori a system of child development and education that's been around since the early years of this century And we'll look at it again in a moment This is the newest trend in elementary education Back to basics this is des moines traditional school one of several alternative programs that parents in the capitol city can choose for their youngsters We emphasize the basic skills we Demand some respect for authority in the school. I was doing some teachers we require a homework we Spend probably 30 to 50 minutes more a day on the basic skills and does the average school any more Certainly I feel that in some respects where were abilities and things Perhaps we spend more about a number of years such as spending more time on basic skills Then do some of their suppose, but again, we were using the most modern techniques in teaching and audio-visual aids and insurance There are a lot of reasons that parents and the community in general have developed a renewed interest in strong basic academic Education the traditional school is one that responds Very directly to some of the concerns that some of our parents have there has been a considerable number of expressions about emphasis on basic skills Stronger structured situations such as you know emphasis on greater discipline citizenship There some parents feel that there's a great deal of permissiveness and They want something with a stronger Stronger control measures, and they felt those that respond to it I felt that they had obtained that at the traditional school Educators will tell you that a couple of decades ago Society began to demand that schools do something to cut down on the increasing dropout rate and keep kids off the streets in response curricula changed Standards were lowered a broader range of interest stimulating courses and activities were introduced into public schools And the percentages of youngsters who stayed on to finish high school rose dramatically But somewhere along the line parents along with others began to feel that the fundamental reason children were in school Was beginning to get lost in the shuffle The emphasis here besides on multiplication tables and verb tenses is on dealing with Authority competition and the structured world During the 60s those elements of education became less important as many schools The Montessori system is centered around Emphasis on the individual and into that atmosphere the decades-old system came into its own in this country He believed that lots of discipline is necessary But we don't believe that the discipline should come from outside. It should come with from within the child You were asking me some questions about Did a child need to need to experience failure oh? Well we think he needs to learn discipline To face these situations he has to discipline himself Because he can't always depend on somebody else there to tell him no or they can't do it He must learn to discipline himself, and this is the way this system works self-discipline Montessori Children's House Which has been operating for 11 years has about 90 students in its preschool kindergarten and elementary programs it takes children with state-certified teachers through 3rd grade Both the proponents of Montessori education and the parents whose children attend the traditional school Believe in their kind of education and in fact most educators will tell you that there is no one right way to educate children That there can be wrong Philosophies of Education certainly, but I don't feel that there is a single Philosophy, that's appropriate for every child no we We know for example that children learn differently They have different learning styles and of course they respond to different kinds of stimuli and as a result of that. We try to adapt our programs to those special special needs of children You know socioeconomic class various cultures and subcultures we find respond to different kinds of education And so we feel that we need must be flexible to provide What we feel will meet the special needs of every child But these two forms of early education Represent two widely divergent attitudes about the place of the individual child in the educational system in the traditional school The child as member of an organized group in Montessori the child as individual around whom his or her educational environment revolves and perhaps That's the telling thing about educational trends both the des moines traditional school and the Montessori children's house emphasize the basic skills of reading writing and mathematics But they go about their teaching in a manner that reflects the desires of these children's parents different styles of Education swing back and forth like a pendulum from strict to permissive from basic to broad from highly structured to self-directed But these changes seem to be based more on changes of attitudes in our society than on radical alterations in the theories of what kinds of things children ought to be learning Phil there's a real strong feeling among all the educators that we talked to that parents play the pivotal role in their children's Education and that's not just in supporting the learning process, but that their own attitudes about themselves and their children actually help determine What kind of education their kids are going to get I don't think they're going to find much disagreement either Thank you There's something new going around these days. It's called super mania Mondays Bob Pyle has been looking into this mania and his Sardi report It's contagious and anyone who goes near Superman and the movie is likely to catch it Superman Took on a speeding bullet more Powerful than a locomotive able to leap tall buildings at a single bound This is a Superman most all of us remember the Man of Steel played by George Reeves with Lois Lane played by Noel Neill Those were the good old days with no foam budgets and camp acting I'm all right now see oh Boy not gonna take care of those guys no, Jimmy I'm gonna let the police do that I had something far more important to do Kryptonite is the only thing in the world that can hurt me therefore this sample is going to disappear forever That series died in the late 50s and most people thought we'd never again Seen the likes of that superhuman hero of the cinema again, but 20 years later Superman returned bigger and better than ever from a doomed planet in a distant galaxy To a fantastic underground, hideaway from the fortress of solitude to the bustling city of the Daily Planet Look up on the screen It's Superman the 50 million dollar movie was four years in the making It opened in a morning last Christmas to some of the largest audiences the River Hills Management has ever seen And they applauded when he comes to the rescue. There's the Superman theme that starts playing when he comes to the rescue No, they applauded wildly and just yelled and and clap and scream and holler, and it's just a great fun movie It's not just the adults it's the kids do the kids are getting into it along with the adults because Superman is the movie still has a long way to go to match the biggest moneymaker in cinema history A long time ago in a galaxy far far away Star Wars Star Wars started at all and when we ran that movie 13 months here Which is an all-time record for being in one theater for 13 months? That you know Hollywood got on in a hurry they they got the message loud and clear. That's what people want to see that Star Wars rated PG Well Superman opened bigger than Star Wars Star Wars kind of caught people off guard There wasn't as much advanced pre publicity on Star Wars as there was for Superman so our opening Week or to audience was larger. You know I do not think star our Superman will outlast our distance star wasn't Superman may be a multi-million dollar movie today But this is where he got his meager beginnings back in 1938 in a 10 cent comic book The first Superman was an alien from within the solar system He was not anywhere near as powerful as the Superman of today. He could well if you remember the George Reeves TV show he could He was able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and could out raise a freight train Which is what he could do and as you see in the movie? He's able to move faster than the speed of light and can even move the planet faster than the speed of light So he's changed quite a bit if there's a Des Moines expert on Superman. It's Ken King operator of what he calls the biggest comic book shop in Iowa an average person doesn't think that the average person can do much and to fight the establishment to get anything done We have to have super powers or super abilities and so we have superheroes and that's what comic books pretty much are Some say Americans thrive on superheroes and that may explain why people? Return again and again to see Superman. I thought it's really good. I really like it Because it's Superman. He's gorgeous Do you Eat yes, yes, I do when I'm hungry I Thought was very honest algid to say and very enjoyable Clark Kent may seem like just a mild-mannered reporter But listen not only did he know how to treat his editor in chief with the proper respect not only does he have a snappy Punchy prose style, but he is in my 40 years in this business the fastest typist I've ever saw But it's brings back memories from 15 years ago Just Memories of Superman What he represents and symbolic disguised as Clark Kent? mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper fights a never-ending battle for truth justice and the American Way The American Way is capitalism, and it seems nearly everyone is or wants to cash in on Superman Already Superman books and magazines are crowding bookstore shelves everywhere A month ago, we couldn't keep the Superman books in stock But now it's slowed down. It's always that way when the movie first hits and the movie first hits The interest is tremendous, and you just can't keep up with the demand the interest on the Superman Isn't a sustain hasn't been a sustained as long as the interest in the Star Wars or Star Trek? originator of the Superman character DC Comics has released 500,000 copies of a 2 dollar and fifty cent collectors issue of the 1938 comic which Superman first appeared William says he can't keep them in stock Besides the movie another area where Warner Brothers pictures hopes to paint that big s green is in record sales Star Wars was a phenomenal seller right from the start, and there's still a pretty steady seller now where Superman has sold a few pieces here and there, and we haven't sold This many Superman since this come out Compared to like star war albums in one month Warner Brothers says as Superman doesn't gross at least eighty million dollars in the United States. It'll be considered a flop River Hills Anderson says of audiences crowd into theaters across the country the way they packed into his theater Warner Brothers won't have to worry about having a super flop on their hands He says all the film's makers will have to concern themselves with is the super Hype for the sequel which is scheduled for release sometime in 1984 Monday this is Bob Pyle I Always watched the TV show and I always read all the comic books and I have to admit I saw the movie a few weeks ago, and I really did enjoy it have you seen it yet? I haven't seen it I've everyone I've talked to has seen it and they love it It's a lot of fun. It really isn't well that's Monday for this evening we will be back in one week next Monday night on March 5th and that tie at that time Phil's going to visit an Unusual school, that's right Twila. We'll be taking a look at special education for kids with certain disabilities We'll find out who gets special education what it is and who pays for it And I will be venturing into the world of teenage discos these establishments are fairly new And they're the hottest thing in the feverish world of disco dancing they do not sell alcoholic drinks And they appeal to some very young dancers The dancing meet girls I don't know you meet people. It's a lot funner to learn how to dance and be in physical To dancing to meet girls We'll also take another inside look Bob piles. Notebook. That's next Monday night at 6:30 Please join us for Phil Wilson. I'm Twila young good night