ARTICLE ABOUT DRUGS IN SCHOOLS ONLY HIGHLIGHTED NEGATIVES

Only in the best of all possible worlds would the media refuse to take
great sport in drawing blood when reporting the unseemly, and the negative
that often occur in the school systems across our great nation.

Because no quarter was given by the press, those who criticize Clarke
County Schools are given more ammunition. Particularly helped are those who
figure that a solution to every educational dilemma is to simply move to
any of the outlying counties. November 26's report, viewed through several
lenses, leads me to question what faction this article was written for. In
particular and of note was: a story which was biased and holistically
covered the negative side of the issue much more diligently than the
positive; a presentation too simplistic in its view of the problem; a
display weak in understanding the complexity of school life in contemporary
America; an appalling lack of understanding of statistics and social
science research.

School administrators, like Dr. Lewis Holloway, Dr. Maxine Easom and Mr.
Charles Worthy, whose job is often a thankless one, walk a fine line
balancing the demand of parents who insist that the schools remain
drug-free regardless of the cost to the student rights, while another camp
demands the school administrators respect the rights of students at any cost.

In the best of all possible worlds, drug-sniffing dogs would have no place
on a high school campus. But this is not the best of all possible worlds.

Michael A. Ashmore