FROM DENIAL TO FACING FACTS

Two letters on page A4 were like a recurring nightmare to me. The first by
the Helbergs reminded me that I was in denial when my son began to use
"pot." I was one of those "not my child" parents. After all neither his
father nor I used drugs or abused alcohol. We were a church going, intact
family. His mood swings we attributed to being a teenager, but eventually we
had to face the fact that our son was an addict. Pot became cocaine and who
knows what else. Money and jewelry went missing. We suffered his violent
outbursts and at 18, I had to throw him out of the house for the sake of the
family. I faced the possibility that he might die from an overdose or bad
drugs; he might end up in jail for dealing; or he might kill someone when
driving his car under the influence.

We were lucky. After 10-plus years of hell, our son sought help. Today
he is a son of whom anyone could be proud.

We might have been like Carlos Lluch and Louisa Callery. We might have
had to bury an 18- or 20-year-old and spend the rest of our lives
wondering what we could have done to save him.

I agree with the Helbergs that no money should be spent on enlarging
or enhancing school facilities until this problem is under control.
Having activities at night will only give the drug dealers more
opportunity. Invest in drug sniffing dogs like we see at airports.
Give the dogs access to all classrooms as well as using them to
monitor the gates. That should discourage the dealers and weed out the
kids that are carrying. Students that continually get "high" on campus
should be suspended for the sake of the others.

My advice for the Helbergs is take your child out of Malibu High even
if you have to get a private tutor or pay for a private learning
center to help him/her keep up. If he's high he's not learning
anything good anyway.

Agnes Peterson