Drugs ARE In The Schools: Be Prepared

My oldest son is 12 and will be in 7th grade this year.  He will be in junior high and is trying out for the basketball team.  We had to visit the doctor for his sports physical and she gave us a few tips for getting started in junior high.

• He will have to take showers in a community shower and has been worried about this since he first heard of this at the end of his 6th grade year.  The doctor says that her sons and their friends wear the tight, sports underwear in the showers to alleviate embarrassment which is  a great idea if the basketball coaches agree with it.  Just in case, we bought multiple pairs of underwear for 7th grade shower time.
• She also said to make sure that you use your planner since there will be multiple classes and assignments to keep up with.  She said that if you have an assignment that you didn’t get finished, it is always best to turn it in for partial credit, than to receive a zero for not turning in an assignment.
• She told us that drugs will be in his school and he must be prepared to deal with students who may try to get him to take a free sample.  Apparently drug traffickers hire kids to hand out free samples for so long and then sell their drugs inside the schools when the kids are hooked.  This way if someone is caught, it is the student “seller” and not the adult behind the scenes.  This was an eye opener for me, to hear that drug dogs regularly patrol the school.  The doctor also said to NEVER hold someone’s backpack for them if asked.  If someone asks your child to hold their backpack, they need to say “Just put it down and I will watch it.”  Last year a girl agreed to hold a backpack for someone and the drug dogs came and the girl was taken to jail for having drugs on her.  The girl was just being friendly by holding someone’s backpack and had no idea that the student knew the drug dogs were coming and was passing off their drugs on her.  The innocent 7th grader had to stay all night in jail, you know here parents were furious!

Please pass that story on to your child.  I would have never thought of that type of advice, but I’m glad our doctor told us before school started so we could be prepared.