OF CHEESE AND CHOICES

DISD's War On The Heroin-Tylenol Mix Is Misfiring, Says Jaclyn Bissell

You have a choice of cheese: American, cheddar, Edam, provolone, Swiss, etc.

You also have a choice of cheese: to use or not to use.

A few weeks ago, as the truth surfaced and more teenagers disappeared
from the hallways of Dallas public schools, the district issued a
flier informing parents of a meeting held at North Dallas high school
to deal with the new demon in our midst. The handout read in giant
letters: "CHEEZ!" On a second line in slightly smaller print it
continued: "It's Heroin! It's Here! It's Cheap!"

Now, I'm not sure what just flew through your mind, but when these
flyers were posted in every room and handed out to every student, we
saw it as an advertisement!? "Hey! It's here and it's cheap!" It took
a few more seconds of scanning this catchy flier to notice the "It's deadly!"

While designing this flier, surely, someone thought, "It's deadly!"
was important enough to merit its own line right under the word
"Cheez"; however, the actual design emphasized the wrong statement. A
week or so later, after the feature on cheese in The Dallas Morning
News, a new poster graced doorframes. The headline of the main story
in the DISD newsletter? "District Declares War On Cheese."

What are we? Mice? We already have a war on terror; I guess we needed
a war on something tangible? Only ... it isn't.

Illegal? Deadly? That only ups the ante in what too many teenagers
see as a game. I only wish I could offer a simple solution. Chances
are, the kids using such a ghastly drug will not read this column.
For parents and the community, I fear there is not a whole lot to be done.

It has progressed beyond ridiculous. Like "bomb" in an airport, the
word "cheese" is not to be spoken without heightened alert. I hate to
admit it - but the serious matter of overdoses on cheese seems only
to be taken too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others.

Five years ago, on my middle-school band trip to San Antonio, I
shared a room with three other girls, one of whom was Brandi Nolen,
believed to be the first Dallas County girl whose death was
attributed to cheese. The four of us were not great friends. My best
friend and I made up one-half; the other two were loners - not
friends with us, not friends with each other. Brandi maybe said four
words to me all weekend. Our band director had placed us in a room
together because she knew my best friend and I would try to be
friendly. Two years later, I would return to school after winter
break to hear about Brandi's death. It was a shock. Someone I shared
a room with? Someone I could've tried harder to befriend? A sort of
guilt sets in when one learns a teenager has died or taken his or her own life.

This tragedy isn't going to be solved by a few over-involved,
over-zealous adults. It has to come from within. Parents can hope
that it is just a fad. But, more important, they should remind their
children (especially middle-schoolers) how valuable life can be
rather than simply how dangerous drugs can be.

In my opinion, Brandi suffered long before she discovered cheese. It
isn't the school, the students or even the atmosphere - ultimately,
it is the individual's decision.

I grieve for the lost children, I do; yet the rest of us are still
here, listening to the sermon as it is preached to the choir. An
angry choir, that really just wants to get on with life, that really
just wants the newest "thing" to become old.