UNWATCHED STUDENTS SLIP OFF SCHOOL GROUNDS, INTO DRUG TROUBLE

Phil and Sonja Myers' 15-year-old daughter Annie is headed for a yearlong
drug treatment program, and her parents are angry and scared.

They're angry at their daughter's high school, Kickapoo, for what they see
as failure to supervise her. They're angry at her, because they try to be
as involved as possible with the three children still at home. They are
faithful members of a large Springfield church that features a lot of
activities for youth. They ferry the kids to a variety of activities. The
whole family eats together regularly.

It was during an evening meal in November that Sonja asked Annie, "Have you
smoked marijuana?"

The question was precipitated by the girl's having been "under the
influence" at Kickapoo when her stumbling gait gave her away. Her system
contained the prescription drugs hydrocodone, (a narcotic pain-killer) and
adderall (an amphetamine prescribed for Attention Deficity Hyperactivity
Disorder). No one in their family has a prescription for either. When Annie
answered "yes," Sonja was stunned.

"She was always telling me about other people's bad choices," Sonja says.
They gave her a chance to quit on her own, but in January, Sonja says Annie
became moody and belligerent. Phil and Sonja had her take a drug test, and
marijuana was found in her system.

The couple decided to do whatever they could to help their daughter get
clean. Questioning her at length was the first step. She told them she was
getting drugs from students gathered just off school grounds in the
mornings, unsupervised. Staking out the school from his truck, Phil saw
kids gathered behind the maintenance building and in "the park," an
undeveloped area across from the school.

"She'd get on the bus here, then get off at school and go off the school
grounds," Phil says heatedly. Her brother Lucas, 16, says he has overheard
some students talking about smoking marijuana in "the park."

Sonja wonders why the kids weren't considered truant if they were off
school grounds. Kickapoo Principal Doug Bloch says students are not
considered truant until school starts. He says that in a school of more
than 1,700 students, a student might come into the building and go back
out, "but we deal with it," meaning they are disciplined. He says teachers
do not monitor doors.

"The teachers are here to be in their classrooms for kids to go to if they
need help, and preparing for their classes. You watch one door, and there
are a half-dozen other doors that aren't watched."

Bloch says the school has two security officers, but both are off now, one
with a broken ankle from chasing a student, and the other from surgery.

After researching drug rehabilitation programs, the Myerses have decided to
send their daughter to Teen Challenge of Minnesota. The 12- to 15-month
residential program involves schooling, counseling, therapy, mentoring by
graduates, Christian education and teen activities.

I understand a school can't be all things to all children, but with the
availability of drugs, personnel have a responsibility to supervise what
they can.

During my years as a middle school teacher, I was always in the halls
before school started. There was never a question about where teachers were
supposed to be: interacting with students and making sure they were where
they were supposed to be. We prepared for classes in our planning periods
or otherwise before we got to school. Isn't that part of the job?