DRUG-FREE SCHOOLS

Sir:

Take down those "Drug-free Zone" signs by our schools. Why? Because
they are false and show that schools and parents are in denial.

The truth is, as many as 50 per cent of students in high school, some
as young as 12, are coming to school under the influence of alcohol,
prescription medicines or drugs.

Schools and parents need to question students, starting in Grade 5.
How many students do you see coming to school under the influence of
alcohol, drugs and prescription medicines? Do you see these substances
being exchanged in school halls?

With that information, schools and parents should solve this
crisis.

How can we reverse this trend? Make it mandatory for every high school
student to volunteer with the young, elderly and needy on a weekly
basis.

This will give our youth empathy towards the less fortunate and less
time to be idle and to get into trouble.

Very importantly, how many high school graduates have the skills to
maintain a household financially? The focus of high school cannot be
to just ready students for universities when parental responsibility
is lacking in so many areas of preparing children for the real world.

Look at our recent graduates or dropouts. Did they just make it
through high school but then have their world fall apart due to their
addictions and monetary ignorance? If your graduates cannot be happy,
productive citizens, where does that high school diploma get them?

Teachers, the parents need your help, and vice versa.

Karen Domenichini

Sarnia