DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE A PROBLEM AT SHS

Re. "Use vs. abuse" by Jeff McAbee, opinion, Dec. 9

I am a student at Summit High School. Recently I read the column by
my campus supervisor, Jeff McAbee, about the substance abuse that
many kids in the school are facing. I found it to be quite true, but
then on Monday I heard kids complaining that Mr. McAbee was
completely wrong. They interpreted his letter as being harmful to the
school's publicity and they are being ignorant about the usage of
substances. As a student, I see and hear pretty much everything that
is the hype at SHS. A couple weeks ago some kids got suspended for
bringing alcohol into class, and others were caught smoking pot
outside. Everywhere I look I can usually see a student or two who has
recently been abusing substances, and that fact scares me. Also, as I
leave the school at the end of the day, I look over at the Stage
stop, and I see kids just standing there smoking. Smoking in front of
the school! In the past couple of years I have seen many friends of
mine start to smoke and drink. Personally, this scares me. I
sometimes wonder what it would have been like if the school had taken
more preventive causes. Why don't we have a drug dog come in during
the school day? Why don't we require kids to take drug tests to be on
school teams? Why should one high kid be allowed to mess up learning
time we all need? Why?

If you are a parent, a student, or just someone sitting there in the
community, it is all of our responsibilities to reach out to the kids
of Summit and let them know what's right, or at least make sure that
they know that school needs to be a safe-haven from these deeds.

Wade Rosko
Dillon