DRUGS HEAD SUSPENSIONS

Nearly one-third of all public junior high-school suspensions were
drug-related last school year, says a Calgary Board of Education report.

The leading cause of suspensions among junior high students in the public
school system was drug use, accounting for 50 cases in 1999/2000, while
another 38 stemmed from drug possession. Supt. of School Support Services
Dr. Brendan Croskery said the numbers reflect a greater drug problem in
society.

"The use of drugs in society in general is a cause of great concern, and
not just hard drugs but alcohol and tobacco," said Croskery.

"I think our schools are kind of a piece of society and what we see out
there in society finds its way into schools."

Croskery said several factors may contribute to drug-related suspensions.

'KIDS HAVE MORE MONEY'

"Kids have more money, so they can buy things today that they couldn't
before. Kids can move around more in the community -- many of them have
access to cars, transportation that they didn't have 20 years ago," he said.

"And there seem to be more liberal attitudes towards right and wrong and so
on. All of those are problems that we're all dealing with in society."

As well, Croskery said the numbers may indicate a tendency by staff to try
to prevent drug problems from starting at an early age.

"People feel a need to support young lives before they get into bad
habits," he said.

"I think that the earlier we can get to these problems the more success
we're going to have."

While drugs pose a problem for senior high students as well, the leading
reasons for suspensions in high schools were conduct endangering others (51
cases), fighting (50) and assault (45). There were also 27 suspensions
arising from possession of a weapon and six cases of using a weapon.

Overall, however, the number of suspensions in the public system has been
dropping over the last three years.

Suspensions went from 692 in 1997/98 to 561 in 1999/2000. Croskery credited
the reduction to the CBE targeting the area of discipline.

NEED SAFE SCHOOLS

"We need not just to be in the punitive mode, but to look at the whole
array of reasons why kids experience difficulty and to try and get at some
of those issues, whether they be in school or the home," said Croskery.

"The first thing we need is safe and caring schools," he said. "Then we
need to support students who are having difficulty and get at the reasons
for the difficulty."