Pubdate: Tue, 03 Jul 2012
Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2012 New Zealand Herald
Contact:  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/300
Author: Amelia Wade

2173 SCHOOLKIDS CAUGHT WITH DRUGS

Students were caught with drugs in 2173 incidents at school last year 
and the youngest child to be stood down was in year 3.

But the figure is the lowest in three years, according to preliminary data.

Last year, there were 1324 stand-downs and 849 suspensions in New 
Zealand schools for drug-related behaviour (including substance 
abuse), according to figures released to the Herald.

The Ministry of Education said the data was still being updated by 
schools and so could not be compared with other years, but previous 
figures have quoted there being 2441 drug incidents in 2009 and 2690 in 2010.

A year 3 student - aged between 7 and 8 - was stood down in the 
Manawatu-Wanganui region. The youngest to be suspended were two year 
5 students - aged between 9 and 10 - in Gisborne and Wellington.

Gisborne had the highest number of incidents per capita where 
students were caught with drugs, with a total of 77 suspensions and 
stand-downs from a roll of 9353.

A stand-down is the removal of a learner for a period of up to five 
days, with the decision made by the principal.

A suspension is the formal removal of a student until the school's 
board of trustees makes a decision about when they can return.

Secondary Schools Principals' Association president Patrick Walsh 
said students bringing drugs to school was a major concern. It was 
one of the main reasons for disciplinary action against students.

"There wouldn't be a school in the country that wouldn't from time to 
time have to deal with students who either bring drugs to school to 
deal in them or to use them in school," Mr Walsh told the Herald.

Included in last year's student drug busts was the 14-year-old girl 
at Hamilton's Fairfield College who in November gave pink pills to 
seven of her friends after stealing the drugs from her mother's handbag.

The students reacted badly to the banned drug BZP and, with the aid 
of parents, the school nurse and deputy principal, had to be admitted 
to the emergency department at Waikato Hospital.

The girl told her friends the drugs were Ecstasy. She was stood down 
for the rest of the school year and has not returned to the school.

Her mother was sentenced yesterday to 80 hours' community work for 
possession of class C drugs.

Mr Walsh, who is the principal of John Paul College in Rotorua, said 
schools were noticing it was mostly older students who were caught 
with pills because they were more into the clubbing scene.

The vast majority of the drug busts involved cannabis and schools 
often noticed a spike around "harvesting season" in April and May, Mr 
Walsh said.

"A point other principals have made to me is that with the increasing 
cost of cigarettes in dairies, that the preferred drug in those 
circumstances, because it's sometimes cheaper, is in fact marijuana."

Students usually got the drugs from their parents or another family 
member, he said.

"One of my concerns is that schools are increasingly becoming seen as 
the silver bullet to solve all societal ills ... but the reality is 
that these things are not caused by schools. We deal with the effects 
of it," Mr Walsh said.

New Zealanders are among the highest users of illegal drugs in the 
world, and top the list for cannabis use, according to the United 
Nations 2012 Drug Report released last week.

Statistics for Oceania - mainly from Australia and New Zealand - 
showed a far higher prevalence of all drug use, other than heroin, 
than the rest of the world.

Cannabis use in Oceania was the highest in the world with between 9.1 
and 14.6 per cent of people reportedly using the drug, compared with 
2.8 to 4.5 per cent globally.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom