KIDS: DRUGS ARE NOT HARMLESS

My heart breaks for the friends and family of Madison Kiefer. I'm not
sure when illegal drug use became a rite of passage for high school
students, but I know it happens in every high school - rich or poor,
public or private, single sex or co-ed.

Kids think their parents and siblings dabbled in drugs (many did),
and that becomes some sort of permission to pick up a bong, a hit of
acid or a needle. They hear about cafes in Amsterdam and romanticize
their behavior. They think it's harmless fun and make impulsive
decisions, as adolescents often do. A kid who "only smokes pot"
easily becomes a kid who "only throws coke up her nose."

Many of the students with aching hearts at Madison's prayer service
probably still don't see the gravity of the situation. I hope for
most kids, this will be real enough. They'll see her father, a man
who has to deal with the worst imaginable task a man can endure -
burying his precious, beloved daughter - and they'll stop. They'll
realize the behavior that gives them the illusion of adulthood is
actually proving they still are very much children.

As a coach of high school girls, I often tell my team they have
plenty of time to do bone-headed things when they are in college and
off my watch. I say that somewhat jokingly, but with the belief that
just getting kids through the bear of a time that is adolescence will
help them make better decisions in the future. If I can help keep the
residue off their hands long enough to help them develop an adult
conscience, I've done my job.

Madison's family didn't need her to be an example; they needed her to
grow old with them. Drug use took that away. Kids, this isn't Europe.
You are not an adult. Put the bong down, and go hug your parents.

Katherine A. Brennan

Milwaukee