Eyes Opened up

BigWI...I mean no harm by asking this question. But why was the use of "cocaine" at the High School a surprise to you? I've read all of your posts and you are not naive.

Another thing to watch out for is the abuse of Coricidan. It is a little red cold medicine pill that the kids take several of and get high. They call it skittling, or triple C. It is mostly used as far as I know in the middle schools. No smell, no outward symptoms and I saw it and thought "Oh, he must have a cold". What an idiot. I also know that the kids are using "Dust Off" a computer cleaner to "huff" like the old sniffing glue of my days. This is extreamly dangerous stuff. They have been known to use whip cream in a can and a number of household products that come in areosal cans. Finger nail polish remover, etc

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Originally posted by Catfish:
BigWI...I mean no harm by asking this question. But why was the use of "cocaine" at the High School a surprise to you? I've read all of your posts and you are not naive.

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I guess I was naive. I thought that Cocaine was the Yuppy drug of the 90's but I didn't think it had gotten to the High Schools.

I, of course, knew that Alcohol and Grass were common, but not Cocaine.

I guess I am from a different time and place.

Coricidin is one of those very common over-the-counter drugs that can be FATAL. It is pretty much bad news.

The old glass bottles used to be great for slide guitar, tho.

This is a subject that I never thought would touch my life, but it has. Five years old I took in a 14 year old boy as a foster child. He was with us for 3 1/2 years, I came to love this boy as if he were my own child. He stay with us through the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. The summer before his sr. year of high school his grandparents, who I must say are wonderful people, were granted custody of him. Although he no longer lived with our family we saw him regualrly and were still involved in his life. He was in the same school as my two oldest children. They thought of him as a brother. He graduated '03 and went on to a community college in a town about 90 minutes from where we live. He would call us atleast once every couple weeks and come visit when he could. The last time we saw him was for Christmas. We thought he was doing fine. Yesteday all that changed. I got what I can only describe as one of the biggest shocks of my life. I read in the local paper that he was arrested for, second -offensive DUI( i had no idea about the 1st one), possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, resisting an officer by flight, possession of counterfeit money and driving under suspension. To say that my heart is broken is a hugh understatement. My children are hurt and angry. I know that the path this young man has taken was of his on choosing. I also know that it only leads two places, jail and the gravyard. I pray to God that he does in up in the latter.

Folks I am bit older than most here and my youngest is in his mid 20's but I can tell you that while they were in HS cocaine was the drug of choice for those who were into it.

Perhaps I knew more than most as the police in our town were deeply involved as coaches in our baseball programs and we had a close relationship.

Folks it is all around us and all I can say is that you pray that what you have taught your kids has sunk in and they do not give in to their peers---you cannot be with them 24/7---

Being a kid today aint easy !!!!

I don't doubt the BigWI assertion, however, there are times the school administration does not have a clue to what is going on. Many times there are hints and rumors but to say a particular class is the biggest offender I feel is a way the administration is sending a fear statement to the next senior class. Was there a poll taken, a survey, or is it the word on the street?

In no way do I condone drug use in HS, but the other hand the school had better not start a witch hunt without facts. Maybe there are facts and arrests that back up the the situation in BigWi-ville but unfounded allegations that many times are started in a teachers meeting can often resembles McCarthism of the early 50's. The intention may be sincere, but the tatics have the potential to hurt the innocent.

There is a hs drug problem, I just hope it is always addressed in an adult type manner...........I can't beleive this is coming from my conservtive mouth.

BigWI,
I'm right there with you.....being shocked.
Oddly enough my son just told me 45 minutes ago that our neighbor's son was expelled and arrested this afternoon for possession of marijuana and cocaine. I was SHOCKED!! It seems like an expensive thing for kids to have access to, but my 14 yo told me "you can get it anywhere"


You say................

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I, of course, knew that Alcohol and Grass were common, but not Cocaine.

I guess I am from a different time and place

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You're dating yourself a bit...it's not GRASS anymore. It's WEED.

Sorry, couldn't resist

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Originally posted by MrandMrsBaseball:

You're dating yourself a bit...it's not GRASS anymore. It's WEED.

Sorry, couldn't resist

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"no stem no seed that you don't need ......"

In WI, it's illegal to date your self. Unlike other parts of the country where they can actually marry themselves

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In WI, it's illegal to date your self.

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ROFLMAO

I am SO stealing that line from you!!!!

Yea, drug use is definately serious. I'd say about a third to a half of our school drinks regularly, about a quarter smoke pot and about 2-3% (primarily our hockey players) have used cocaine. It's pretty scary, and mr. and mrs., your son is right; it's not hard at all for kids to get a hold of. I'm actually not sure of the price, but around here whatever it is it doesn't seem to stop kids from using.

Hockey Players? You better take that back.

"Being a kid today aint easy !!!!" Amen. I thought High School was going to be fun for me. But the HS's I went to were entirely drug-infested. I could understand some marijuana, I mean most teens have tried it cause it's the least harnmless. Now evertime I hear about the towns I grew up in, I learn about someone new who does cocaine. "Does" it, not tried-it-once-and-then-never-again. I figured only a smaller percentage of people would be on some kind of drug. Wrong! My home town recently became the home one of the most notorious bike gangs and that's probably where most of the stuff is coming from. I remember being at this one guy's apartment from school. Before school started in the fall he was starting to go downhill, then got kicked out of his house. I dropped him off after class one day at his apartment along with his "friends". One guy was sitting beside an ashtray with a little black paper tube with what looked like baking soda inside. He said it was cocaine and warned me never to try it. Then he went into detail about what it does to you, he said it sort of eats you up from the inside-out and then grabs a hold of you mentally. That wasn't a very comfortable situation and I was glad to leave his place. The guy became a huge dealer, dealing weed, hash, and exctasy, the reason he got kicked out. I remeber being at my old friend's brother's house one night and as I went to my car, someone across the street came out of her house and started screaming and talking about someone stealing her care. There was no car parked on that street, and no people anywhere near her except us.
To be honest, I can't really blame teens. Especially here in Welland and Fonthill. The drug problem has gotten real bad. Someone told me that on Dave Letterman's Top 10 list on his show, he once did the highest drug usage percentage per population in North America, and Welland came 4th or 3rd. I'm not exactly sure if that's true, but I wouldn't be surprised. It's sad, we just have 50,000 people, it's just a little town. There simply just isn't anything else to do. Downtown is just a tiny mall, and some fast-food joints (no pun intended). It's not like where I am here in Toronto where every street is crowded with amused people who have better things to do than chemicals. Drug users usually have good reasons why they do it. I find in my home town it was boredom and depression, not to gain popularity. " it's not GRASS anymore. It's WEED." Get with it! There are hundreds of names, for every drug. Cocaine:chatch, yayo, Exctasy:XTC, E Marijuana:joint, grass, weed, dope, ganj, joint, root, tree, dub, and more. I hated growing in a small town. I've even heard of people snorting salt and dishwasher detergent. Small town life sucks. Everyone is bored stiff. So they go out find something to do and it usually is to smoke or snort something or rob a store. It's the reason why I stayed home almost every Friday night, and the reason why I had no friends. At school all they ever talk about is drugs too. It felt like growing up in a ghetto.

If 50,000 is small, we're tiny (35,000), and my cousins are in a practically ghost town (11,000). 50,000 isn't all that small.

Other than that though, I completely agree. The majority use cause they are bored, not because they actually look forward to it.

My freshman believes that more than 50% of his schoolmates use drugs or drink, regulatly! We have had all the talks, and I pray that he continues to make good decisions. HOWEVER, I know how tough peer pressure can be. To help offset peer pressure, I haved offered up an excuse for him to use...I have purchased several drug and alcohol test kits available via the internet. He has agreed (though he has no veto here) to random testing. This way if he has problem "just saying no" he can blame it on his stupid old man, saying he gets drug tested. I actually believe he likes the idea as it relieves some of the pressure. Though, I hope and pray that he won't find it too hard to "just say no".
Hold them close they grow up too fast!

My son claims to have gone through hs drug and alcohol free, I don't doubt him, and I couldn't be happier. However, I did not, over 80% of my 1974 class of 504 did not, my parents did not, and I know grandpa ran moonshine in high school. Except for the ocassional roadrage, I am comfortable where I'm at. My kids know where I've been in my past as far as use, and I feel it's my job to put the cards on the table, explain the history, downsides, voice my anti use opinion, and hope and pray they listen. Remember, I'm talking drugs and ALCOHOL, and I hope no one looks at one less than the other. My point is that I feel many parents, teachers, and school administrators refuse to look into the mirror and remember the past when dealing with the situation.

Take three athletes at a party, one gets caught using coke, one with steroids, and one drinking beer. The kid caught doing coke is a druggie, the roids user is an athlete who made a poor choice, and the beer boy we shake our head at in semi-digust. Do you ban your son from hanging out with any of them? I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but does anyone else feel that there are different levels of tolerance and we as parents define them case by case? Or, am I that far off the beaten path?

rz1

You make good points. I was not able to decline every offer too when growing up, and don't expect my son to never error either. I don't ban him from hanging with people who have tried alcohol or drugs, but would if I ever knew anyone who offered it to him! I do believe you are correct in that we have different levels of tolerance.

I'll add to your "not sure where this is going path" by adding, what do we do with the parents who are buying the alcohol at some of these HS parties??? My younger son has aspirations of attending one of the service academies. One ticket from being at a party where there is alcohol served would possibly ruin that opportunity. For those parents I could not show much mercy...

T-Ball...In Georgia, we are prosecuting them. Last year in the Atlanta Metro Area, alchohol at home HS parties resulted in the deaths of at least two teenagers. The adults, who provided the alcohol, are on their way to jail.

A few years ago when my daughter was in 11th grade, she went to one of these home HS parties. She called me crying at about 10:30 asking me to please come and get her, she had rode to the party with a friend. When I got there I was shocked by what I found. There were about 50 kids ranging in age from 14-19, most were drinking. There was a young girl sitting in the front yard holding a bloody rag to her nose. Her date had gotten drunk, they got in an arguement and he hit her in the face. This was my daughter's friend she had rode with. I went in and asked for the parents, they were not there, only an older brother. My daughter had told me they would be there. I know I should have checked for myself, believe I didn't make that mistake again. I took my daughter and her friend put them in my car and called the police and made the friend call her parents. The boyfriend who hit her was no where to be found. Several kids were arrested that night. Charges were pressed against the boyfriend and he was arrested the next day. My daughter and I both learned alot that night.

True, there are towns smaller than 50,000, but I call it small because there is just nothing to do. Some fast-food, the mall is small and usually empty on Friday nights. A while ago they expanded their cinemas from 3 to 6 or 7, and gave them more seats. But I've been to a few movies since then and I can't recall there being anymore than about 8 or 9 people (could seat at least 200), except for when I saw Titanic, there were a few more. Point is, we are all just bored stiff. It's hard to just start a conversation with someone, everyone just keeps a straight face. I've known quite a few druggies and they all say they just don't care, they just need something to do.
I just think it's that depressed mindset. I mean there are 6 or 7 movies playing each Friday night and there are tons of seats left. Niagara Falls and St. Catherines isn't too far, I can drive. Honestly I don't get bored just because I've been watching TV at my house for 4 hours straight. I get bored if I watch TV at my house by myself. I can do pretty much anything as long as I have someone else to hang with. Why not rent some movies, or challenge somone to a racing video game? If people just got a little creative they could find something to do besides narcotics. Don't get me wrong on this, but I really do wish my HS's had parties. Honestly, I wouldn't go for the booze or drugs, I'd go for the people. And being in a little city, it's so much easier to find the drugs too. You call someone and the pickup is just a 5 minute drive away.