Pubdate: Sat, 18 Dec 2004
Source: Oliver Chronicle (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004 Oliver Chronicle
Contact:  http://www.oliverchronicle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/875
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

NO TIME FOR PUTTING OUR HEAD IN THE SAND

So is the school board finally coming to grips with the drug problem in our 
schools? The South Okanagan and Keremeos schools have the distinction of 
having the highest suspension rate in the valley for students being caught 
with drugs on the premises. This can be read two ways, of course. Either we 
are the most vigilant or we have the highest incidence of drug use in the 
schools. The first would be nice but we don't have any evidence that this 
is the case. Our fears are that it is the second reason that may be driving 
the numbers.

Our district has not been the most progressive in addressing this problem 
that is affecting all schools in the province. In fact some board members 
appear to have been in denial until recently. Hopefully that is at an end.

What we need is openness with both students and parents about what is going 
on. There is no room for pretending by either parents or educators because 
teenage drug dependency can undermine all their efforts to create 
productive members of our society.
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