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New Haven Register
By Ashley Varese, Hour Staff Writer
Students at Old Saybrook High School sat in grim silence for nearly two hours on Wednesday as they heard the heartbreaking story of a mother who lost her son to an overdose of heroin.
While Ginger Katz of Norwalk, founder of the Courage to Speak Foundation, Inc., related the tragic story, family photos of her son Ian, a young man very much like those who attend Old Saybrook High School, were passed around through the assembly.
Later in the evening, Katz delivered her message to parents and others in the community during a program jointly sponsored by Youth and Family Services and other community organizations. Since her son's death, Katz has been taking her message or warning against drug use to students and parents throughout Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and elsewhere.
"Ian died in his sleep of a heroin overdose" on September 10, 1996, Katz said. "He was bright, handsome, athletic and popular. If this could happen to him, it could happen to anyone. He had an addiction to a disease, and while he was alive, he was in denial."
"There are 15,000 youth lost yearly of drug overdoses. It's a major thing in our society today" she said. "Young people don't think there's a danger involved, but there is."
Katz said her son's addiction began as early as middle school, when at 13 he started to "smoke a little weed and drink a little beer", things she learned from Ian's friends after his death.
Throughout high school, Katz suspected her son was using drugs and sought help for him through doctors and counseling. It was while he was at the University of Hartford that a dealer gave him heroin and he quickly became addicted.
Katz warned that dealers try to get kids hooked on drugs to feed their business.
"Dealers make it easy, and sometimes kids get addicted," she said.
"I never felt so powerless," she said of her attempts to help Ian recover from his addiction.
"Kids, some of you will not do drugs, some of you will. Some will get addicted. If you get addicted, your parents can't help you," she said. "These are choices you have to make. You don't know if you are going to be addicted."
"How do we escape?" asked one student during a question-and-answer session. "It's all around us. What do you do if you have friends who use and you want to stay clean?"
"Run with people who don't use." Katz answered.
She advised students to find three to five adults they feel they can talk to. Adults "have life experiences. When you have a problem or when you see a friend in trouble, have the courage to speak," she said.
"There are kids who have everything and still use drugs," another student said. "A lot of people do it who don't have problems."
Katz agreed, saying that Ian had a good life, but "drugs are in the culture. You are going to be exposed to this."
She told students to "find something that you love to do and avoid unfortunate decisions. I understand the struggles you have. I never thought this would happen in our family."
Principal Scott Schoonmaker told students to reflect on what they had heard "by yourself."
"If you felt a pit in your stomach today, have a long talk with yourself, then have the courage to talk to someone about it." he said.
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