DRUG USE PART OF EVERYDAY SCHOOL LIFE

The Sun Herald is committed to exposing the growing problem of drug and
alcohol abuse among young people. This week, Red Ribbon Week, the newspaper
will present readers with a series of stories meant to increase awareness
and promote frank discussion about how to stop self-destructive behavior.
In this story, four teenagers - Angela Henry, Victor Jones, Tony Kippes and
Shannon Hamel - describe the problems in their schools; the same problems
that exist in schools, both public and private, across South Mississippi.

Angela Henry once saw something shocking at a high school party: A parent.

"I'll never forget it. I went to a party and a mom was there and she was
like, 'Oh, there's a bottle on my floor.' She was walking around picking up
beer bottles," Henry said. "I was like, 'Oh my God.' My mom would have shot
everyone in there."

Henry said she attends a lot of parties where kids drink, pop pills and
smoke pot - parties that often get out of control. Somebody always throws
up from drinking too much, she said.

Henry, who graduated last year, said drug use and alcohol abuse among her
peers is no well-kept secret.

"I just don't understand why adults don't see it," she said.

Henry was among a group of local high school students who gave The Sun
Herald Drug Task Force their perspective on drug and alcohol abuse among
South Mississippi's youth.

She was not the only discussion participant to tell troubling stories.

Victor Jones, also a recent graduate, said he often sees students go to
class high.

"People come to school high all the time," Jones said. "They do it at home
first and then they come to school high. You can tell they're high. I
haven't seen many come to school drunk, but I know I've seen a lot of
people come to school high."

He said teachers usually don't realize when students are intoxicated.

"You can just come to class and sit down and just be quiet for the whole
day," he said. "You can be high and teachers don't even know. Your eyes can
be bloodshot."

He said honor students drink and get high, too.

Jones and Henry said they've seen students peddling prescription pills,
such as Xanax and Lortab, at school.

"Oh God, pills are crazy," Jones said. "People walk out with pills and they
purchase them and sell them."

Tony Kippes, a sophomore, also sees kids using drugs at school: "At our
school, people go to the water fountain and take pills."

Kippes said he has seen a student in the lunchroom mixing drugs into his drink.

"And that's real crazy," he said.

He said crystal meth is available at school. "I don't even know how many
people can get it. I know a lot of kids from Louisiana at our school get it
really easy."

Shannon Hamel, a recent graduate, saw a different problem at her school.

"The biggest problem at our school is drinking," she said. "It's hard to
find somebody who doesn't drink on the weekends and goes partying to get
drunk every weekend."