DRUG SHOCK FOR SCHOOL

A FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD schoolboy has been suspended from lessons amid
allegations that he was spotted drug dealing on the school campus, Chad can
exclusively reveal.

The shock news has led to the boy being excluded from Rainworth's Joseph
Whitaker School, with education chiefs confirming yesterday that a full
investigation has been launched into the drugs scandal.

It is understood the youth, who has not been named, is accused of selling
Ecstasy tablets to two 15-year-old girls at the school last week.

The boy has been told to stay away from lessons for 45 days while school
and education bosses look into the allegations.

In a joint statement issued yesterday, Joseph Whitaker and Nottinghamshire
County Council told Chad: "A full investigation is currently taking place
over the possible possession of two Ecstasy tablets in the school.
Appropriate action will be taken in due course in line with the school's
existing anti-drugs policy."

The news has sent shockwaves through the school community, with one worried
parent telling Chad he was horrified an incident of this nature could
happen at Joseph Whitaker -- and called for the boy to be permanently barred.

"I am stunned this has happened so close to home and I hope my son has not
been exposed to something like this," he said.

"We all want to keep drugs out of schools and society in general and I am
very upset to find this out -- drug dealing in schools is something you
just do not expect to come up against as a parent.

"I see the consequences of drug abuse all the time through my work and I
really hope this boy is permanently excluded from the school. I also hope
the school has some strong policies on keeping drug and drugs abuse out of
the school."

And the worried dad also urged education chiefs to come down hard on any
pupil caught taking drugs into the school -- while he said all parents are
now waiting to see how school bosses handle last week's incident.

"This is something that is very concerning and all the parents and pupils
connected with the school need to be warned about what has happened and
warned about the dangers of drugs," he told Chad.

"I have told my son that he should not touch drugs under any circumstances,
only one tablet of Ecstasy could kill and it is a real shame that this has
happened.

"The school has been very good in the past and I have always been very
happy with them. They have always dealt very well with bullying and other
problem areas and I hope they will do the same with this incident."

It is understood no official complaint has been made to police and that the
matter is being dealt with internally by education bosses.