COMMUNITY RESPONSE NEEDED

Amherst was thrust into the national spotlight for all the wrong
reasons last week when 22 students at ARHS were arrested following a
drug raid.

In the days that have followed, some have accused police of being
heavy handed, though those arrested were allegedly conducting an
illegal activity in an education setting.

There have been more than a few questions whether Amherst needs this
bad publicity when there has been more than enough negative press of
late, including a two per cent hike in the HST.

The fact a number of students at ARHS were arrested and suspended does
not make it a bad school. You can't blame people for being a bit
thunderstruck when the number was first announced, but considering
there are close to 800 members of the student body, it's a small
percentage that were involved.

Still, even if one student was arrested, it sends the message that
drugs are unfortunately a part of school today as they were 10, 20 or
30 years ago. What is needed is a measured community response that
brings about the positive outcome, Amherst deputy chief of police Ian
Naylor mentioned earlier this week.

Police acted decisively in arresting the students, but they haven't
been so quick to lay charges because they are looking for other ways
of sending the message that using drugs is unacceptable. For that they
can't be blamed.

When government provided the funding for additional policing
resources, one of the targets was drug use. At the time, the public
applauded the province and our policing agencies for taking action.
Now that it has resulted in a drug bust, that may not be popular to
some, but it doesn't mean we should be blaming everyone but ourselves.

We as a community should not attempt to downplay it. Instead, it
should serve as a wake-up call. Drugs are in our schools just as they
are in the community. We shouldn't expect police or school
administrators to clean it up.