Schools fight drugs–with spirit days

No one can deny that drug use is a problem in schools today. And because drug use is so prevalent in schools, many schools have been trying to fight it. Like this school in Muskogee:

Today, students and teachers are encouraged to wear red, to signify that they are saying no to drugs.

The rest of the week’s activities are as follows:

Thursday, Oct. 29: Shade out Drugs! Students may wear sunglasses. Friday, Oct. 30: Scare away Drugs! Students may wear a Halloween mask.

This whole anti-drug spirit week raises two questions:

1. Do they seriously think that encouraging students to wear the color red, or a pair of sunglasses, will actually keep them from doing drugs?

2. Is it in the job description of educators to stop student drug use? I thought educators were supposed to be educating, not making kids wear different colors to signify their stances on drugs.

Don’t get me wrong; I think drug use is always a problem, whether it happens in or out of school, and I would love it if students and people generally would wake up to the perils of drug use. But, the last time I checked, schools were supposed to be about education; I was not aware that they were supposed to monitor or take stances in any way on what students do with their bodies. Parents are the ones who are supposed to teach children the rights and wrongs of drug use, not educators.

That being said, I wish the Muskogee school the best. I’m sure that after wearing red and being allowed to wear a Halloween mask in school, many students will voluntarily give up drug use as a result.

Allie Winegar Duzett is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.
*Blog entries by interns reflect their personal opinions only and not that of Accuracy in Academia.

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