FIGURES SHOW DRUG PROBLEM WIDESPREAD

School resource officers Scott Lockwood and Mary Stamper bust kids for
truancy at Antioch High. School officials say officers are a deterrent for
students who would otherwise bring drugs to school.

In seventh grade, Billy Shadowens smoked pot before he went to school.

As soon as he got out, he lit up again.

Billy and his friends brought drugs to Dupont-Hadley Middle School on the
sly. They'd walk the hallways of the northeast Nashville school with joints
hidden in their socks, the linings of their waistbands or the flaps of
their tennis shoes.

''When you do it, you've got to have it. When I did drugs, I didn't think
of anything,'' said Billy, 16, who was never caught with drugs at school
and got clean nearly a year ago. ''When I had hard times, I used to run to
drugs. Everybody has hard times, but now I talk to somebody.''

Others aren't so lucky.

Last year, Tennessee public schools reported 2,291 incidents of students'
using, selling or carrying drugs on school property plus scores of
drug-related offenses such as having drug paraphernalia or showing up high
in class. Last year's number was up 337 incidents from 1999-2000 but was
slightly lower than the past two school years.

Although drug violations accounted for 57% of zero-tolerance offenses -
those serious enough to carry mandatory suspensions - during the past
school year, school officials admit they don't catch every student who
brings drugs on school property.

''These are the students that got caught,'' said Gale Colvert, director of
the Williamson County Alternative Learning Center. ''They're the tip of the
iceberg.''

Since Tennessee started tracking school safety violations in 1999, more
drug offenses have been reported than all others combined. Only 2% of
offenses last year involved guns found on campus.

''It seems overwhelming at times,'' said Joe Anderson, director of safety
and security in Metro schools, which had 209 drug offenses last year.

''It's a tremendous problem, not only in schools but in the fabric of our
society.''

Easy Drugs

Although schools aren't required to track the types of drugs they find,
officials say marijuana is overwhelmingly the drug of choice.

''It's easier to get. It's probably the drug most kids use,'' said Mike
Herrmann, director of school safety for the state Department of Education.
''It tends to be more acceptable among their peers.''

But it might someday be eclipsed by prescription drugs - or misused
over-the-counter drugs - which have become increasingly popular, officials
said.

''There's a lot more prescription drugs sitting around,'' said Mike Brown,
supervisor of student services for Robertson County Schools. ''It's easy to
get into the bathroom medicine chest. It's cheap. They are stealing it from
home.''

Students aren't always careful about what they grab. In the past year,
students have been caught passing out drugs to treat blood pressure,
depression and diagnosed problems such as attention deficit disorder.

''They'd sell it for $1, $2, $3,'' said Pat Conner, Safe and Drug-free
Schools program coordinator for Sumner County Schools. ''They'd tell other
students that it would make them feel good, (but) they could die from it.''

Over-the-counter speed, diet pills and some cold medicines also are
popular, especially among slightly younger students. Some even try to pass
off medicines such as Tylenol as a drug.

Harder drugs such as crack cocaine, heroin and Ecstasy rarely show up in
schools, but other odd incidents - such as students sniffing glue or
huffing chemicals from aerosol cans - crop up.

''I had two that were huffing natural gas out of the science room,'' Brown
said.

'We find them everywhere'

Students caught with drugs often have them on their body or in their clothes.

Drugs also are occasionally found in student lockers, tucked in textbooks,
under the front seat of a car or in the ceiling tiles over a bathroom
stall, officials said.

''As far as location, we find them everywhere,'' Anderson said.

Sometimes students go to great lengths to hide them. Other times, they're
found when a student reaches to pull something out of a pocket and a joint
falls to the floor.

''Probably more often than we'd like to admit, they hide them in their
underpants or their private areas,'' said Mary Stamper, a school resource
officer at Metro's Antioch High. ''You'd be surprised how often we walk by
and smell it.''

It's extremely rare to find anyone lighting up in the halls, parking lots
or bathrooms, but it happens, school officers said.

Most of the time, drugs are found because another student blows the whistle.

''It's a kid trying to do what's right,'' said Scott Lockwood, Stamper's
partner at Antioch High. ''You'd be surprised how much is found and brought
to us.''

Some students who have drugs don't try to hide them from their peers, said
Carissa Williams, a cheerleader and anti-drug advocate at Maplewood High.

''You get off campus, that's where you see it,'' said Carissa, 17. ''The
rest have some type of fear about being caught.''

Not Just A City Problem

Drug activity has turned up in almost every school system, although it's
more prevalent among certain groups of students.

In the four years that schools have tracked offenses, the majority of the
students involved have been white, male and in regular education classes.
Almost all have involved first-time offenders, and the highest number of
offenders has been in ninth grade, with eighth-graders and sophomores close
behind, officials said.

Herrmann, who collects data on zero-tolerance offenses each year, said drug
activity didn't appear to be as prevalent in urban schools.

''It tends to be more of a suburban and rural issue,'' he said.

That doesn't surprise Colvert, whose alternative school served more than
200 students last year from the Brentwood and Franklin areas.

''You've got more accessibility,'' said Colvert, who has sent two students
to treatment since classes started last month. ''Students have cars in
Williamson County, and they have money.''

Looking For Solutions

Many schools are focused on preventing drug use.

Despite nationwide skepticism about the effectiveness of programs such as
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) and Students Taking a Right Stand
(STARS), schools throughout the state say they feel the programs make a
difference.

''We wouldn't have continued it if we didn't think it was positive,''
Anderson said of DARE and other programs. ''We have a number of programs
focused on drug education and prevention, and I think that has an impact on
getting a child to stay away from drugs.''

Officials said the overriding goal of each program - and others focused on
developing life skills and putting an end to bullying - was to teach
students how to make good choices and stay away from drugs or activities
that might lead to substance abuse.

''The reality is that not everyone uses and fewer use than don't,'' said
Rodger Dinwiddie, president of STARS, a national program that focuses on
students at risk for substance abuse and other behaviors. ''We can't just
address one issue.''

School officials say drug use doesn't happen in a vacuum. It can often be a
symptom or a catalyst for deeper problems.

''Once you start doing it, in some cases, you may give way to other poor
choices. Sometimes it's a gateway or a steppingstone to doing something
else,'' Metro's Anderson said. ''There have been a number of incidents that
have related back to drug activity.''

Any Kid Can Change

STARS made a difference in Billy Shadowens' life.

A program member and educators who reached out at Dupont-Hadley got Billy
to think about the way drugs could change his life forever.

''I started thinking about when I get older and have kids. I thought, 'I
hope my kids don't do the same thing.' I want my kids to have a good
life,'' said Billy, a ninth-grader at McGavock High. ''In the long run, it
will mess up your life. Think about the consequences.''

That first joint a few years ago - given to him by an older boy - didn't
seem so dangerous. It was just a way to forget his problems for a while, he
said.

In the beginning, the joints were free. Then he saved his lunch money and
spending money to buy his daily supply.

Susie Shadowens, Billy's mother, said she wished she had recognized warning
signs such as the listlessness, lack of interest in school and change in
friends.

''I didn't have any idea. You suspect it, maybe, but from a mother's
perspective you don't want to see it,'' she said. ''You don't want to
realize what's in front of your face.''

When he finally reached out for help, she was there.

''They are still worth saving. Parents have to stay active and involved,''
she said. ''Any kid - not just my kid - can change. Drugs aren't the
answer, they can make anything worse.''

Clean for almost a year, Billy said he still struggles with jitteriness and
short-term memory loss. He regrets choices he made while using drugs, such
as getting his initials tattooed on his right arm.

But he's focusing on the future - finishing high school, becoming a diesel
mechanic and being a good example to his younger sisters.

''Teachers, they respect me now. Everyone tells me how good I'm doing,''
said Billy, who has surrounded himself with friends and a girlfriend who
are anti-drug. ''It makes me feel good that I turned my life around.''

Signs of drug abuse

Substance abuse treatment and education programs for youth encourage
parents to communicate with children and watch for the warning signs of
drug use, which include:

. Red, bloodshot eyes

. Staggering or stumbling walk

. Constantly chewing on breath mints (to mask the smell of alcohol or
marijuana on the breath, for example)

. Impaired motor skills

. Odor of marijuana, chemicals or alcohol on clothes

. Short-term memory loss

. Dilated pupils or rapid eyeball movement

. Unexplained weight gain or loss

. Lots of energy followed by excessive sleep

. Possible delusions or illusions

. Violent outbursts

. Neglected appearance or hygiene

Source: Bobby Benson Center, Teen Help Southeast

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