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EDUCATORS SHOW IMPORTANCE OF ERADICATING METH FROM AREA

Chances are good that if you've made it all the way back to this page of the newspaper, you've read it pretty thoroughly. 

If that's not the case, you need to turn back to Page 1, begin reading Lebanon Daily Record reporter Matt Decker's story on how meth is affecting our schools and don't stop reading until you're finished. 

The people Matt talked to for his story -- among them Esther Elementary Principal Kyle Walker, R-3 Assistant Superintendents Chris Neale and Suzy Gauzy -- do a far better job of emphasizing the importance of eradicating meth from our county than we can in this space. 

The good news is, as a whole, R-3 students aren't using the drug. 

But the bad news is that their parents, in some cases, are. 

The students, especially the youngest ones, are the ones who are hurt the most. 

Esther Elementary Principal Kyle Walker, whose school serves students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade, said it's not uncommon to see children of meth users shuffled between caregivers. 

"We'll have a parent come in and make arrangements for a child -- that they're going to stay with grandma and grandpa while ( the parent ) goes into rehab..." Walker said. 

"In the elementary, one of the things we see sometimes are the effects right after it's happened.  It's not uncommon for us in the morning after a drug bust or if there's one that afternoon, to see, once again, grandma, grandpa or an aunt or somebody is sitting with a child, and they've come to pick the kids up because the kids are going to be staying with them until mom or dad gets out of jail."

Think about that the next time you're thinking your kids are about to push you over the edge. 

Educators say that the more students learn is one of the keys to ridding our county of meth.  In that spirit, a new 10-week program sponsored by St.  John's Hospital-Lebanon will be offered to students and conducted by Al Nutter, the former Laclede County Sheriff's deputy who ran the D.A.R.E.  program for several years. 

Another key, they say, is the establishment of a drug-treatment facility in the county. 

"It seems, out in the community, that's the disconnect," Neale said.  "We have a jail that has a program within it to help meth or any other kind of addict recover, we have a private group that has started up a stepping stone -- a halfway house -- for folks who are trying to get between the jail and back to real life.  So, the thing we don't have is a treatment center, which would be a beautiful addition to help those folks."

So read this week's story. 

If affects us all, it's one reason we decided to report this series of stories and, especially if you're a parent, it affects you more than anyone.