STUDENTS MAY BE PUTTING THE 'HIGH' IN HIGH SCHOOL

Despite Efforts, Students Still Smoke Pot, Drink And Take Ecstasy

Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series examining drug
use at local high schools.

FORT MILL TOWNSHIP -- Recreational drug use, from alcohol to cocaine,
is a problem at Fort Mill and Indian Land high schools, educators and
students say.

How deep a problem the schools are dealing with, however, depends on
how it's measured. In Fort Mill, for example, there are more than
2,000 students but only seven cases where drugs were confiscated in
the past year and a half. Officials in Fort Mill say that's a strong
indication the problem is not severe.

Meanwhile, students there say most of their peers have at least tried
various drugs, but it's hard to estimate how many are habitual users.

Indian Land officials say there are few documented cases at their
smaller high school, but concede they can't gauge what students do
off campus. Both schools use periodic campus searches by
drug-sniffing dogs as a deterrent.

"If any school says they don't have a problem, they are in denial,"
said Renee Kozlowski, drug prevention advisor. "Fort Mill High does a
good job in keeping track and being aware. The administration is
always willing to listen."

Kozlowski said the most serious thing she has seen when it comes to
students using drugs is the peer pressure that surrounds many of them.

"A lot of kids are bored and hang out and get involved doing the
wrong things," she said.

At Indian Land High, "We recognize that there is a problem but it is
difficult to fit into the program," Principal Mary Bernsdorff said.

Although she said she realizes her students may do drugs off-campus,
Bernsdorff said it's rare that drugs are discovered on school grounds.

"We've not seen any evidence of students using drugs in school,"
Bernsdorff said, "but I won't say it doesn't happen."

At Fort Mill, "It's not a big problem, but it's a big problem with
some groups," said junior Allison Whitesides.

For example, junior Michael Marlow said, in most skateboarding
circles, it is widely known that marijuana is used.

"Skaters smoke pot," he said.

Marlow, Whitesides and junior Lauren Munday estimate that
three-fourths of the student body has tried drugs and that between 75
and 250 students could be using drugs on a daily basis.

"People are doing it because they want to, not to be cool,"
Whitesides said. "Tons of people have tried it."

Marijuana and Ecstasy are probably the most frequently used drugs
today, students at both schools agree.

"It's gotten worse over the years," Indian Land senior Samantha Smith
said.

"People aren't going to see how bad it is until something bad
happens."

Smith said the drug of choice for high schoolers is marijuana, but
she sometimes hears about kids using Ecstasy or taking their parents'
prescription medications.

One of her classmates, however, senior Michelle Langley, counters,
"It seems like it's such a small amount of students that they get
sucked into it because they want to be cool."

In Fort Mill, "Some people do it just on the weekends," Munday said.
"But some do it every day."

Although the three Fort Mill students agree drugs are a more serious
issue, they all agree that a majority of students drink alcohol.

"Ninety percent of the school drinks," Munday said.

"People that drink are doing it to have fun," Whitesides said. "Not
to be doing it every day."

Indian Land High junior Jimmy Perez, 17, said he doesn't see the
kinds of problems he saw at his previous school, South Mecklenburg
High School in Charlotte.

"This school is really calm," Perez says. "There's not much stuff
going on."

- - Next week: Trying to solve the problem.