SUSPENSION NOT THE ANSWER TO DRUG-RELATED ISSUES IN HIGH SCHOOLS

While many students may choose Morgantown for West Virginia University's
bargain education, many parents and potential students choose it for its
small town atmosphere, cleanliness and safety.

But Monday, a little bit of that charm was tarnished. During a lockdown at
University High School, Morgantown police officers found marijuana in two
students' cars. No arrests were made, as reported by The Dominion Post, but
the students face an eight-day suspension.

Wonder what they'll do with all that free time - surely not smoke marijuana.

UHS and neighboring Morgantown High School can boast a cleaner record when
compared to high schools across the United States. Drug busts like Monday's
are more the exception than the rule, and shootings like the
again-fresh-in-our-minds Columbine are - thankfully - not something we've
had to deal with yet. But this discovery shouldn't be ignored.

It's not necessarily a domino effect; smoking marijuana may not lead to gun
play, as some governmental commercials claim. It seems harmless that a
couple teenagers were getting high, perhaps especially to the college set.

But it's troublesome.

While those desks are occupied, high school faculty and staff have a
commitment to those occupants. It's not as simple as the 1980s "Just Say
No" campaign, either. It's still a matter of getting kids to stay away from
drugs, but now it's also about keeping the kids who don't in line when that
doesn't wor k. And that doesn't happen with suspension.

At best, those students could smoke at school a handful of times - maybe in
the morning, during lunch and after school. Take out what's occupying their
time in between - class - and their schedule is wide open.

That said, perhaps there is no clear-cut answer for UHS to choose. But
there are options, many of which are stricter than letting some
16-year-olds sit on the couch all day while mom and dad are at work and
blaze up.

As Superintendent Michael Vetere said in The Dominion Post, "We're not
going to invite the bad element to stay there." There's logic to that, but
there's also logic against it.

If you don't want them corrupting the classroom, give them in-school
suspension; then give the maintenance staff the day off and make them scrub
the commodes and floors. If you want to scare them, impose a sentence of
volunteer work at a drug rehabilitation center. If you want to embarrass
them, assign each one a supervisor to escort him or her to and from class
every day.

Monongalia County schools are still safe, and maybe they're still
relatively drug-free. But that tide seems to be changing, and school
officials need to know how to answer it.

And it's not with a vacation.