SALE OF DRUGS AT SCHOOL PROMPTS POLICE ACTION

Teen Discussions Urged

Police will ask students to report any type of crime when school starts
next month after two 13-year-old Park Royal girls were suspended for
selling marijuana on school grounds just prior to summer break.

Although teachers at Hillside Middle School, on Kelly Rd. in the area of
Lakeshore Rd. W. and Southdown Rd., wanted the teens to get more than a
five-day suspension when one sold pot to the other while other classmates
watched, a Peel District School Board (PDSB) official says the penalty was
appropriate.

"We're dealing with a couple of kids who got involved in something they
shouldn't have," said Chuck Waterman, PDSB superintendent of schools. "They
weren't involved in it all the time."

Waterman said teachers wanted the Grade 8 girls banned from the graduation
dance, but they did graduate and they attended the dance.

"We realize that we have to lay down discipline, but we didn't want to be
so punitive that the kids feel they are scarred for life," he said.
"They're just moving through adolescence."

Peel Police said a lack of evidence prohibited them from laying a charge.

But Staff Sergeant Keith Brodie, who heads the Neighbourhood Policing Unit
(NPU) in 11 Division, said NPU officers will be taking a proactive approach
by visiting high schools during the first few weeks of September and
talking to students.

"We'll be encouraging kids who are victims of crime to come forward or to
report any crime if they see it," he said yesterday. "By approaching them
beforehand, and letting them see our faces and know our names, we're
confident they'll cooperate with us in trying to make it a safer community."

Brodie added the September meetings will also touch on police enforcement
and patrol.

"We also want to be straight forward with them in that if we see something
wrong, whether you're a student, teacher or principal, you're not going to
catch a break," he said.

Elementary and high school teachers are being encouraged to discuss issues
like drugs and alcohol with students.

"Especially at the elementary level, the guidance is an area of concern,"
said Waterman. "Teachers should talk with students about the dangers (of
drugs) and allow feedback from the students."

In-class talks will hopefully create a snowball effect where students begin
discussing these popular teen topics with each other, Waterman explained.

"Teachers and principals can say all they want, but if these kids can
discuss these issues progressively with their friends and peers, that would
be a fantastic method in deterring drug use," Waterman said.