SEARCH PUTS FOCUS ON DRUG PROBLEM

Several local high school students thought they were bright.

High on marijuana, they figured they knew the number for infinity and
decided to e-mail NASA with their discovery. They even got a response -
probably an automated one.

"They thought they were geniuses," said Madeline Kitchens, a John Hardin
High School senior who was told the story by one of the students involved.
"And then they realized later, they were just stupid."

Some high-schoolers in Hardin County might have done something similar,
influenced by illegal substances. With a recent drug raid at Elizabethtown
High School that resulted in five arrests, students across the county are
talking about the problem of drugs in the community and in the schools.

"In the back of my mind, there is always the thought of drugs being here in
school," North Hardin High School senior Bethany Chalings said. "But I
don't let it affect my school work."

Others said drugs are a problem in the community, though a lesser problem
at school. But they don't let it affect their lives.

"It's only a select few that choose to do drugs," North Hardin senior
Katherine Yancy said.

Nonetheless, many school administrators often call in police with
drug-sniffing dogs to inspect their schools. Many students said they don't
take issue with a school drug raid.

"It was the students' choice to bring (drugs) into school," said Desmond
Thompson, a John Hardin High School senior.

John Hardin senior Kellie Manier agrees.

"I personally don't care because I don't have any drugs in the school," she
said.

Other students have been told by their parents to avoid drugs altogether or
face stiff consequences.

"My mom said if I do (drugs) I'll die," John Hardin junior Jonteia Rowe said.

Some parents and community members have expressed disappointment with the
raids.

Richard Travis, a parent of two Hardin County Schools students, said he was
unhappy with schools trying to teach kids right from wrong.

"The business of a school is to teach academics, and that is all," Travis
said. "Don't mistakenly assume I want (school administra-tors) to teach my
kids right and wrong for me. It's a parent's job to enforce moral behavior
in their kids, not the schools."

For some area teachers, it was a shock when they found out many students
knew where they could get drugs if they wanted.

North Hardin student council adviser Sandy Skeeters said a recent drug
search at the school failed to turn up any drugs.

"I find it hard to believe that it is in the school," she said. "But I know
it is a problem in our

community."

Several students said drugs are all over the community, but many avoid drug
dealers because of the way they dress or look, said Alison Stokes, a North
Hardin junior.

"(Drug dealers) don't reach out to people who will reject them," she said.

However, North Hardin senior Jennifer Leong said that doesn't matter.

"It doesn't really matter what you look like or who you are," she said.

Leong said she has been approached by someone who asked if she wanted cocaine.

She said no.