Precaution Trumps Prevention

At an unnamed High school, my student body was receiving the "7 Reasons To Leave A Party" attack. We were being told something that we have heard over and over since the 4th grade. To quote the great Mr. Mackey, from the TV show South Park, "Drugs are bad, mkay." As silly as this sounds, it is ridiculous how much we have to hear about this. I understand its importance, but naturally resist its presentation. A friend made a fantastic point to me: Health class originally taught abstinence but soon realized that kids would never start having sex. So, they did something start and started teaching safe sex. They have admitted defeat in some way, but are still fighting just as much. They should take the same precautions with drugs, marijuana and alcohol in particular. Given our opportunities, the youth will always partake in these activities. So lets not try to achieve the unachievable. Educate how to handle an emergency, or how to take care of friends in danger. This is the best response, education, not a ridiculous attempt at prevention.

Another thing happened: A student was removed for voicing his opinion. The presentation was over, and the entire presentation was open to questioning. The presenter made this choice. So, a respectable peer said, "I want to thank you guys for taking time out of your day and educating us on our functioning legal system," or something along those lines. This immediately made me think about Evan Earl, and his group voicing there opinions at school. I drew pretty clear connections. But there were differences as well. The student here was called on, he was not by any means interrupting the presentation. And more importantly, what we was saying was in a completely stoic voice. There was no sarcasm in his voice, but it could have been argued that there was sarcasm in his answer. He was removed immediately and given a detention. Now, were they right to remove him? Yes I would say. But did he deserve any imposing punishment after? NO. By the school interpreting his answer in a sarcastic way, they are placing him and his personality inside of a box. I see this is as profiling and that is a serious topic that the school needs to take a long, deep, serious look at. It is only fair to the students.