News / Education
Kids and Drugs
Elementary school kids are getting their hands on drugs and alcohol and bringing them to the playground. Is it a growing trend?
A Tennessee fifth grader reportedly brought a bottle of liquor to school and shared it with four other kids on the playground. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, an eight-year-old boy headed off to the classroom with dozens of packets thought to contain heroin. School officials say the child was handing the packets out to fellow students in his third-grade class.
Are elementary-age kids getting more access to drugs and alcohol or are these innocent cases of kids not understanding the gravity of their actions?
Kids and Illegal Substances
The Tennessee boy and his friends were found out by a teacher who took the bottle away, but not before the kids did some sampling. The bottle’s label said it contained vodka, according to a report by Tennessee news outlet WSMV, but investigators from the White County Sheriff’s Department aren’t ruling out the possibility that the bottle contained “white liquor” or “moonshine” instead (this is Tennessee, after all). If that were the case, it would be illegal and change the investigation.
The Sheriff’s Department isn’t the only one getting in on the act. The State Alcohol Beverage Commission and the Department of Children’s Services were also called. The parents will likely have to answer some questions and the kids were all given 20 days of in-school suspension and ordered to undergo counseling.
In the Pennsylvania case, which happened in a small town near Pittsburgh, according to reporting from CNN’s Anderson Cooper, another eagle-eyed teacher put a stop to distribution of the illicit substance.
Investigators said they recovered approximately 60 folded packs they believe to contain heroin with 18 more open packets found in the classroom garbage. No arrests have been made, but Allegheny County Children-Youth and Family service was contacted, and the school has promised to take “swift and appropriate disciplinary action in this case to ensure the continued safety of all children."
Children and Drug Addiction
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