BATESVILLE — Startling statistics were absorbed by attendees of a recent public forum on heroin use presented by Batesville’s Community Issues Committee.

Dr. Jim Roberts, committee facilitator and Batesville Community School Corp. superintendent, reported an Indiana Prevention and Resource Center survey taken by students in March 2010 showed heroin use rose from zero to 3 percent.

A year later, in March 2011, results stated 10 percent of last year’s Batesville High School seniors had tried it. “If that is the case, out of 170 students, 17 in the class were using.”

A two-hour free-ranging panel discussion at the forum tackled many topics. For skeptics, two personal stories drove the problem home.

“My name is Tom and I am the father of a drug addict,” said Tom Horninger, Brookville. He announced their son, a former Oldenburg Academy student, “has been clean  one year, 10 months and seven days today” as the crowd of 170 applauded.

He and wife Mary  detailed red flags and warning signs they wish they’d known about earlier and gave advice so other families can intervene earlier. 

The dad said severe mood swings can signal drug use – “high peaks, low depressions, a big increase in argumentativeness.”

Horninger cautioned, “Be wary if you’re catching your kids in lies, especially in who they have been hanging with and where they’ve been. Watch out for missed curfews.” 

A change of friends might be concerning. When their son’s older friends graduated, he made new ones who “weren’t such a good influence.”

Substance abuse can lead to missed assignments, blowing off studying and  declining grades. Mary Horninger said extracurricular activities may suffer, too. Their son  lost  interest in sports and plays and  dropped out of Boy Scouts.

“Goofier than usual” sleep patterns are another sign. Their teen would sleep most of the day on weekends sometimes. Later they learned that’s because he sneaked out of the house at night, returning at dawn.

The family noticed money disappearing from wallets, purses and even siblings’ birthday present piles. The father added users will sell   valuable items  “to get the money they need” to purchase drugs.

Withdrawing from family and other events and having difficulty holding a job should also worry relatives.

After the parents discovered he had used marijuana, the student was grounded and privileges were taken away.

Later they found several prescription pain pills missing, then their son progressed into heroin.

Tom Horninger suggested family members   should lock up prescription painkillers so they can’t be stolen.

His wife advised parents if they suspect their children are experimenting, “act quickly. Don’t wait.”

Once a student  reaches 18, he or she decides whether to receive treatment or counseling, not parents, she pointed out.

Their son reported drug dealers find buyers at parties. With inhibitions already lowered because they’re smoking pot or drinking alcohol, students “don’t need a lot of prompting to try something more serious,” like a prescription narcotic or heroin, Tom Horninger explained.

“Trust, but verify,” urges the mother. “When they say they’re at a friend’s house, just show up. Call parents to verify parties.”

Her husband added that in addition to searching a car, bedroom and backpack for drugs, they should also check computer histories and cellphone records.

If there is abuse,  “seek help from others who’ve been through it and seek help from professionals.”

Mary Horninger said research has shown heroin use “is not just a social problem, moral problem or criminal problem, it’s a brain problem.” If there is a family history of addiction, relatives have a much greater chance of becoming addicts.

The other speaker, Angel Schiering, 29, Cedar Grove, is living proof of that. Her bipolar mother used cocaine and alcohol.

After her parents divorced, “We always had what we needed physically, but emotionally we did not.”

Her mom told Schiering in seventh grade “it was OK to drink and do drugs as long as we did them in moderation.”  She started drinking then and smoking pot the next year. Next came pills, acid, ecstasy and heroin. Despite using cocaine on a daily basis as a high school senior, after her mother urged her to try it,  “somehow I graduated with honors.”

Although she started attending the University of Cincinnati on a scholarship, the personable woman soon began a pattern of having four kids while in jail.

Four years ago, Schiering was in crisis after losing two children to  the state and watching her grandmother slowly die. “Then on Christmas night  my life changed forever. I contemplated what I was going to do with my life, end it or change something.” She watched a TV special about Jesus. “The last thing the narrator said was ‘Remember, just when you think that no one loves you, God does.’ I rose to my feet and a feeling of peace came over me.”

Her grandmother died that night. Schiering went to an Indianapolis rehab facility for two weeks and has been clean ever since. She credits   another spiritual awakening with providing stability.

“People do recover,” stressed the volunteer parent advocate in Franklin County for United Families, a program of One Community, One Family. She has redeveloped “wonderful relationships” with her father, twin sister and brother and will soon finish a bachelor’s degree.

The Cincinnati native  has reunited with her children and aims to open an inpatient drug rehab center in southeastern Indiana. To combat the heroin problem, Schiering said,  “I would encourage parents to educate their children. I believe with education you give your children the opportunity to make better choices.”

Remembering her past keeps her sober. “I do not want to ever go through the hell I went through to get where I am today.”

She reports, “Recovery is a daily process that I had to work hard at and still do today.”