School Drug Testing: A Parent’s Perspective
Bob Leonard of the Georgetown News-Graphic has published a letter about schools drug testing that should be read by any parent trying to understand school drug testing:
Dear Bob Leonard, Cheryll Pearson, concerned parents and teachers:
Recently, as I read the Lexington Herald-Leader article on school drug testing for Scott County, I felt compelled to write this letter in hopes that it could serve as an encouragement to begin drug testing in our schools. While I feel all letters voicing opinions should have a signature attached at the end, this letter will not have one. The pain and grief that drugs have inflicted upon my family name has been great; therefore, I cannot bear to sign my name and expose my problems further.
Drug testing in schools is something we must implement if we want to save the lives of our children. My son is still alive, thank God, but his life has been wrecked by the use of illegal drugs. He was an outstanding athlete at Scott County High School during the ’90s and one of the most popular students in his class. Everyone wanted to be his friend and he thrived on his good personality and his athleticism. At age 16, he decided to try marijuana. He and his friends liked the effect of it so much that he began to smoke it every morning on his way to school. Other drugs were introduced to him throughout his high school days and he confessed to me at age 25 that he basically had tried everything. His continued use of these drugs contributed to his decision to drop out of college. At the time, I had no knowledge that my son had ever used drugs. He was very clever at covering up his drug use. I never found any evidence of them or suspected any use of drugs at all until one fateful night in 2002 when we received a call from the Fayette County Detention Center. He had been arrested with two other Scott County High School graduates for possession of cocaine. This was his first run-in with the law and the result was four weekends spent in jail, high legal fees and a misdemeanor on his record. To say we were shocked to hear this is a mild understatement. Of course, he told us that was the first time he ever used drugs and that it would never happen again. He continued to work at a nice restaurant during these years (they didn’t screen for drugs), making good money, so when he was unable to pay his apartment rent, we couldn’t understand why. He asked to move back home until he got back on his feet. That was a mistake on our part, since we became enablers at that point for his drug habit. (Still, we did not know he was still using drugs). Years passed and his financial condition never improved. Checks were stolen from my purse and forged by him to buy drugs, items of value disappeared from our home, and his personality changed into a person I barely recognized. The reality hit us that drugs must be at the center of it all. He did a fantastic job of concealing his habit from us up until this time. I rather forcefully told him to leave our home. I called the police and had my own child arrested for stolen checks, which amounted to thousands of dollars. More jail time, another misdemeanor, but he had to be stopped.
While I cannot tell his entire story within the limits of this letter, it is my desire to say that drug testing is imperative in today’s society. We must work to save our children from this evil force. I’d like to say this story has a happy ending and that my son is drug free, but I can’t. What I can say is that he holds a steady job, he is taking online college courses to try to catch up with his peers and he is trying to get his life together. However, he is considered a functioning drug addict. Some weekends he is gone all weekend with no explanation, as if we are just to accept his behavior. He’s 27 now and an adult, so the life decisions are his to make. He wishes he had never tried that first marijuana cigarette. It all began on the campus of Scott County Schools.
Sincerely,
A parent concerned for your children
The conerned parent and Bob Leonard have performed a public service with this letter.
The DaytaTree Team