A LAKE VILLA SON'S CRY FOR HELP OVER DRUGS

Teen's Mom Says Boy Sought Drug Test After Dad Gave Him Some

Some kids try to avoid a school's random drug tests, but for a
14-year-old Lake Villa boy, it was the only way out.

He watched for years as both of his parents, now divorced, went in
and out of drug and alcohol rehab. Visits to his father's home
included marijuana use with his father in an effort to win approval.

In an essay written for a school health class last year, the boy
wrote, "My mom is doing good in AA and my dad is doing OK as an
alcoholic, but I do not like him drinking because he acts stupid and
there is nothing I can do."

That changed in March when he asked Lakes Community High School
officials for a drug test.

The boy's mother says it was a cry for help so he would no longer
have to do drugs with his father.

Eventually, Antioch police interviewed the boy, whose name is being
withheld to protect his identity, and later arrested his father. The
43-year-old Antioch man was charged May 3 with contributing to the
delinquency of a minor, police Cmdr. Craig Somerville said.

The father was later served with an order of protection, forbidding
him from contacting his son or daughter. He will be in court today
for a pretrial hearing.

"We received information and followed up," Somerville said. "We have
the best interest of a 14-year-old at heart here."

Somerville said the charge against the father is a misdemeanor, and
cases involving parents using drugs with their children are rare.

In a May 3 statement to Antioch police, the man said: "There was a
couple of occasions where (the boy) and I took a couple of hits
together, and I regret it. It was a big mistake in judgment."

The boy's mother said her son has struggled to get love and
acceptance from his father since she divorced her husband in 1993.

She suspected her son and ex-husband were using drugs together, but
she couldn't prove it.

What she didn't know is her son approached school officials and
requested a drug test.

She thinks she found another cry for help a short time later when
she found drug paraphernalia in her son's pocket.

"He knew I looked through his pockets and put the shorts on the top
of the laundry basket," she said. "He thought the only way not to
smoke pot was to find a way to get caught."

Nathan Bylsma, student assistance coordinator for District 117,
verified the story.

Because of the circumstances, Bylsma said, the boy would not be in
any trouble at school.

"This is one of the reasons we have drug testing available," he
said. "The bottom line is we are here to help parents. And I do
think drug testing works."

The boy's mother said Lakes staff and the Lake Villa and Antioch
police departments rallied around her son.

"Nathan (Bylsma) has been awesome, and the two police departments
worked together beautifully," she said. "They just wanted (the boy) safe."