COLUMN

TEACHERS NEED MORE COMMON SENSE

Dear Ann Landers: You have printed a few stories about some of the
ridiculous repercussions of the new zero-tolerance drug programs at our
schools. Please print this article that recently appeared in the Watertown,
N.Y., Daily Times. I do not know if good judgment and heroism can be taught,
but I would hope educators could at least be trusted to recognize and reward
a noble act of citizenship rather than punish it.

Norwood, N.Y.

Dear Norwood: I received at least 40 copies of that newspaper article. I
think what happened was outrageous. Here's the story:

When a 12-year-old Maryland student saw a classmate having a severe asthma
attack, she shared her prescription inhaler, making her a hero to the other
girl's mother. But according to officials at the sixth-grader's school, that
makes her a drug trafficker. And that gets entered in her records for three
years.

"She went from feeling like she was on top of the world to feeling like she
had done something terribly wrong," said the girl's mother.

The incident happened when a 13-year-old girl suffered an asthma attack on
the bus on the way home from school. While the bus driver called for help,
the 12-year-old found her inhaler and shared it with the other girl. "I
think she's a heroine," said the other girl's mother, who is outraged about
the treatment from the school. Her daughter is "fine, thanks to this girl.
This is what makes people not want to help other people," she said.

The school principal said she could not comment on the case. The
12-year-old's mother said the principal did exercise leniency by not
suspending her daughter from school and was as fair as possible under school
rules. "I'm not sure what the answer is," said the girl's mother. "I wish
there was a Good Samaritan clause in the school regulations for this situation."

This is Ann speaking. I understand the need for schools to institute rules
prohibiting drugs, but school authorities need to show some common sense. A
distinction must be made between children who use harmful substances and
those who give lemon drops to a friend or save another student's life with
an inhaler.

Dear Ann Landers: Thank you for being such a strong proponent of Al-Anon and
Alateen for families of alcoholics. The support and assistance of these
wonderful programs is almost impossible to describe.

Eleven years ago, at the insistence of a counselor, I went to my first
Al-Anon meeting. I wasn't sure my husband was an alcoholic, but I was in so
much pain, I didn't know what else to do. The first thing Al-Anon taught me
about my husband's drinking was the "Three C's" -- I didn't cause it, I
can't cure it, and I can't control it.

The reason I attend Al-Anon is not to make my husband stop drinking but to
find out how to have a happy, secure, serene life regardless of whether he
drinks or not. I have learned how to stop being a victim, how to say what I
mean and mean what I say, and how to do it in a calm manner.

The only advice I was ever given in this program was "Keep coming back. It
works." I am still married to my alcoholic husband, but he started going to
Alcoholics Anonymous nine months after I started Al-Anon, and today, he is
in recovery. I remain active in Al-Anon because the program gives me the
tools that help me live my life. Please tell your readers again, Ann, how
important these programs are.

Grateful in the USA

Dear Grateful: Thank you for the opportunity to remind my readers about
Al-Anon and Alateen for families and friends of alcoholics. It costs nothing
to attend meetings. They do a wonderful job and are as near as your
telephone book.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett