I’ve recently begun a new gig at a local charter school. A small school – like less than 100 kids. Keep in mind that the last time I had anything to do with a high school on a regular basis was when I did my time. Long ago, and far away.
I’ll blog about my impressions in another post, but first, I’ve gotta vent about The Dope Deal. Yep, day 8 of new gig, and local Officer Friendly is in school busting the kids.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I think our drug laws are stupid. That’s a whole different post . They may be stupid, but we have to live with them, and by working in a High School, we need to be prepared to play Big Brother when the law requires it. Sucks, but goes with the gig.
Fortunately, in this case, the deal had already gone down (as it were) before I got to work (I teach a class after lunch, so I’m not there in the morning). Of course, when I walked into work, things were a bit tense. The day was more or less normal – I teach a class that is in a fairly isolated part of the school, so we were pretty insulated from the hoo-haw. Of course, the mandatory debriefing staff meeting after school was a different story.
Overall, things went pretty much as I expected. Most of the staff seem to feel the same way I do – drugs are a part of our society (like it or not), but because of where we are, we need to play Big Brother, and do what the law says we’re supposed to.
The kids involved were all honest and forthright – they admitted what was going on, where the dope came from, etc. It boiled down to four basic situations:
- Darwin candidate #1 brought Large Amounts of dope in, and was distributing.
- Darwin Candidate #2 was a recipient of 1/2 ounce from #1.
- Darwin candidate #3 was holding for another individual, who is not a student here.
- Darwin candidate #4 shares a locker with candidate #1, knew what was going on, but didn’t say anything.
#1 was in the interesting position of not actually having any dope, but his backpack (which he had been carrying it in) reeked. A lot. As in contact high. In any case, he came clean, and identified his source. Here’s the interesting part: He claims he didn’t know he was doing anything wrong. Really. This kid brought something like an OUNCE of dope to school (this time), and thought he wasn’t doing anything wrong. Scuze the fuck out of me?! But wait: there’s more. A member of the staff actually bought this!. Really! this bimbo was actually arguing that because the kid didn’t “know he was doing something wrong”, he should be cut some slack. Fail. Outta the pool. He’s gone.
#2 and #3 were a lot more realistic. He knows what the deal is (catch the pun? huh did ya?), knows he’s in for a world of grief, and is ready to suck it up.
#4 was pretty much caught in the crossfire. In all honesty, I can’t fault him for failing to narc out his locker – mate. On the other hand, he can’t get let off scot free. Most of the staff agreed. The tough part is that not only did he know, but technically, he was also facing a potential possession charge – it was, after all, HIS locker too. (fortunately, #1 was honest, and didn’t try to pass the rap onto #4).
There’s also the issue of all the kids that knew something was up, talked to each other about it, but never let anyone official know about it. The school is a zero drug tolerance school – and for the most part, the students WANT that. Many of them are here because they are escaping from schools where drugs and violence are a real problems, and they want to be able to go to school without having to worry about it.
So here’s a dilemma for you: you’re a 14-18 year old kid, who has fled a drug and violence infested school, where people who “talk” are beat up and assaulted. You’re a the new, small school, with a zero tolerance policy, and you find out that one of your classmates has a stash at school. What do you do? In this case, all of the kids that were in the know kept quiet, and in all honesty, I can’t blame them.
The funny part is that even with all this angst, I’m finding that I really love working at this school.
February 12, 2010 at 10:24 pm |
I’ve got the perfect solution for the kids who want to tell but can’t: go home, tell your parents, and ask them to call in anonymously and tip off the administration.
Punkin’ Pie suspects that three (count ‘em; THREE) of her friends are cutting. She even told me that one of them has stopped cutting in places that are easily seen (her arms) and started cutting in hidden places (her ankles and her shins). She was desperate to help her friends, but didn’t want to “tattle” (she hasn’t learned the word “narc” yet). Solution? I called and left a message with the guidance counselor to the effect of “my daughter, who goes to the school, is concerned about some friends of hers. Here are their names; please do what you do to help these children.” Unless the school has caller ID (which is possible) they don’t know where the call came from, the girls get the attention they need, and my kid gets plausible deniability (because, technically, SHE didn’t tell).
It’s a little different in our school, just because it’s so small. There are still ways around the problem, though; a kid can slip a computer-generated note (so as to obscure handwriting) under the Boss’s door. The narc can tell someone else, who can tell someone else, who can tell a grown-up. These kids are clever; if they WANT to tell, they’ll figure out a way to do it.
Dumbasses.
February 13, 2010 at 2:39 pm |
telling parents isn’t always an option. In many cases, the parents will not support the kids because they don’t support the drug laws (or maybe they’re doing drugs themselves, or just don’t want to get involved).
If a kid REALLY wants to tell, they will find a way, but in our culture, telling is a Bad Thing. face it, we’re on the road to a police state (if we’re not already there), and one of the big signs is that people don’t want to inform on their friends and neighbors.
The fact that the consequences of having a joint at school are more severe than the consequences for rape or murder makes it REALLY hard to expect the kids to actually inform on each other – even if they know they should….
Lets face it – if these kids had been busted OUTSIDE of school, they probably wouldn’t get anything more serious than a good scare from the legal system and a lecture from a judge. The kids know this. Pretending that school is a “special” place, with extreme penalties pretty much ensures that the kids won’t talk….
The part that sucks, is that I have to support the kids that didn’t say anything, even though they knew. From my point of view, they were doing the right thing.