'Rampant' drug use raises concern at Kennedy High School in Montgomery County

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I smoked pot almost every day when I was attending an MCPS high school 30 years ago. This is not new.

And look where it got you: Posting on DCUM!

And what’s your excuse?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That Kennedy teacher needs to move to elementary school if it's all too much for him at Kennedy. As many have posted, drugs are everywhere in high school.

If you think this response is the right response, you are the problem. I hope you aren't an educator.

+1 MCPS just announced that half the 10th graders are not on grade level. Maybe if some of those kids spent more time studying rather than doing drugs, they'd be able to pass the exams. Instead, what MCPS will do is lower the bar, and force teachers to pass these kids. Oh wait, that's already happened. They discovered that kids with passing grades weren't actually on grade level, and the books that are part of the curriculum are below grade level.

Seems to me that some of these MCPS admins are also smoking some strong stuff, and the MCPS apologists (employees probably) think we're as dumb as they are. That PP also probably thinks the bathroom issues are nbd, but if they were made to find an open bathroom in 3 minutes and do their business, they'd probably get really mad and complain to HR about it.

Reality is by 10th grade it's a bit late to be worrying if kids are behind. This is the ES fault as they don't have a strong curriculum, they don't teach the basics, and they don't catch reading and other issues early and help remediate them. Everyone blames the HS when it really starts in ES and the ES is failing the kids. Every kid should be reading by 1st grade or they should be getting an evaluation and extra support.

I blame the MS. That's where things get really dumb down. Too focused on social emotional learning in MS and not enough on academics. Then the kids get to 10th grade, and oops... can't perform at grade level. Gosh, who knew this would happen? Idiots.

[Anonymous]

Magruder too.

Kids hotbox in the parking lot before waltzing in late.

Disrupt class.

There is no learning going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the poster who wrote about issues at BCC and Churchill.

The problem has gotten WORSE compared to a generation ago, because of VAPING.

The devices can be hidden in the palm of their hands. They can walk all over the school carrying a vape.

It makes it extremely hard to catch students, and bathrooms get particularly bad.

I've had kids in two different W high schools and this is a problem that's not going away, one discussed by PTSAs and school admins all the time.

We need vape detectors in schools, and if we can't get a state-wide vaping ban, we need enforced regulation on all businesses that sell these things to minors. Levy huge fines, just like selling alcohol to minors.

I heard all the bathrooms smell like fruity pebbles or pina coladas. Kids are also allowed to wander in the hallways. Security guards stop and chat with the kids. It’s pathetic. I heard no one even uses the bathrooms. It’s only for vaping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I smoked pot almost every day when I was attending an MCPS high school 30 years ago. This is not new.

The pot of today is different - stronger and mixed with chemicals in a different delivery method.

DP. That's what they said 30 years ago too, when I was in high school (not in MCPS, and I never smoked pot).

So the rise in psychosis among adolescents is just made up?

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/marijuana-depression-psychosis-869490d1

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/mental-health/marijuana-induced-psychiatric-disorders-high-potency-weed-psychosis-rcna146072

I don't know what to tell you. They actually did say this. They have been saying "The pot of today is different - stronger" since at least the 1970s.

So you're not going to engage with facts or data. Just keep repeating, "They used to say this in the past" as a means of dismissing concerns about the issue, among real people today?

Why aren't you engaging with the fact that people have been saying ""The pot of today is different - stronger" since at least the 1970s? Was it not true then, but it's true now?

DP. Who cares about the 70s. The fact is that pot and edibles sold today can be very detrimental to developing brains and in fact much more harmful than the less concentrated pot of the early 00s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vapes have really normalized the behaviors. Easy to hide. You can do it easily in a stairwell or bathroom. I have seen students use them in class. Completely different world from what many of you remember. There is much easier access to marijuana products and much easier sneakier ways to consume them.

what I remember is people smoking pot while sitting on their cars in the high school parking lot

That’s the point. They were rarely smoking in the school building the .

You'll have to explain to me why it's completely different for kids to smoke pot in the high school bathroom during school vs. in the high school parking lot during school.

kid is doing stuff in THEIR car, let the parents parent their kid. But inside the school? All students have a right to access clean and drug free school bathrooms to pee poop or for menstrual needs.

So to be clear, you are only concerned about kids smoking pot when they're smoking in the bathroom, thereby preventing other students from having pot-free bathrooms to use for bathroom use? Really?

Pp but not that poster: in a nutshell, yes. I want my son and daughter to be able to use the bathrooms to be able to walk the hallways to be able to take the school bus without having to walk through secondhand marijuana. It’s crazy right to think that I would want a drug free learning environment for my kids. It’s nuts, right? /s

Would you consider it a drug free learning environment for your kids if the other kids are smoking pot but just not in the bathrooms, hallways, or school bus? I don't.

Yes, I do. Don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs on school property. It’s not that hard to understand.

Remember drug free school zones? I thought there was supposed to be harsher penalties for being caught using, selling or having drugs on school property? Oh wait, admin would have to call in the police and report the students. They don't involve the police for some reason....

The Drug Free School Zones of the Nancy Reagan era haven’t been enforced for many, many years, and when the old signs rust away, they are not replaced. Along with DARE, the Drug Free School Zone signs were found to be ineffective at best and actually counterproductive.

Sadly drugs and substances abuse in general are more pervasive than ever before among our kids. And when some local districts got rid of the police presence in schools during Covid, the element of fear surrounding substance use in schools was removed.

We are all still trying to figure out a solution that works. One that is equitable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That Kennedy teacher needs to move to elementary school if it's all too much for him at Kennedy. As many have posted, drugs are everywhere in high school.

If you think this response is the right response, you are the problem. I hope you aren't an educator.

+1 MCPS just announced that half the 10th graders are not on grade level. Maybe if some of those kids spent more time studying rather than doing drugs, they'd be able to pass the exams. Instead, what MCPS will do is lower the bar, and force teachers to pass these kids. Oh wait, that's already happened. They discovered that kids with passing grades weren't actually on grade level, and the books that are part of the curriculum are below grade level.

Seems to me that some of these MCPS admins are also smoking some strong stuff, and the MCPS apologists (employees probably) think we're as dumb as they are. That PP also probably thinks the bathroom issues are nbd, but if they were made to find an open bathroom in 3 minutes and do their business, they'd probably get really mad and complain to HR about it.

Reality is by 10th grade it's a bit late to be worrying if kids are behind. This is the ES fault as they don't have a strong curriculum, they don't teach the basics, and they don't catch reading and other issues early and help remediate them. Everyone blames the HS when it really starts in ES and the ES is failing the kids. Every kid should be reading by 1st grade or they should be getting an evaluation and extra support.

Unfortunately, it's well beyond a school problem. That 1st grader who is struggling with reading needs a parent to read to them. That 2nd grader who has behavioral problems needs a parent to enforce boundaries and to teach appropriate ways to process emotions. And so and so forth. By the time they are in high school and skipping 30 days a semester and getting high in the hallways and bathrooms, it's too late for any meaningful intervention. These kids now have the attention span of a gnat. They are addicted to their phones. Their neurological development has been ruined by years of bad parenting, misguided school policies, substance abuse, and technology. It's pretty hopeless for these kids. The real world challenge is ensuring that these kids don't take every other student down with them, which is what MCPS is presently encouraging with their ridiculously lenient policies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vapes have really normalized the behaviors. Easy to hide. You can do it easily in a stairwell or bathroom. I have seen students use them in class. Completely different world from what many of you remember. There is much easier access to marijuana products and much easier sneakier ways to consume them.

what I remember is people smoking pot while sitting on their cars in the high school parking lot

That’s the point. They were rarely smoking in the school building the .

You'll have to explain to me why it's completely different for kids to smoke pot in the high school bathroom during school vs. in the high school parking lot during school.

kid is doing stuff in THEIR car, let the parents parent their kid. But inside the school? All students have a right to access clean and drug free school bathrooms to pee poop or for menstrual needs.

So to be clear, you are only concerned about kids smoking pot when they're smoking in the bathroom, thereby preventing other students from having pot-free bathrooms to use for bathroom use? Really?

That poster's message: parents parent your kids, leave school bathrooms available and free for the rest of the students. If your kid is doing whatever they are doing outside of school, you the parent figure out how to deal with them. Schools have a job to do: educate students. not babysit potheads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vapes have really normalized the behaviors. Easy to hide. You can do it easily in a stairwell or bathroom. I have seen students use them in class. Completely different world from what many of you remember. There is much easier access to marijuana products and much easier sneakier ways to consume them.

what I remember is people smoking pot while sitting on their cars in the high school parking lot

That’s the point. They were rarely smoking in the school building the .

You'll have to explain to me why it's completely different for kids to smoke pot in the high school bathroom during school vs. in the high school parking lot during school.

kid is doing stuff in THEIR car, let the parents parent their kid. But inside the school? All students have a right to access clean and drug free school bathrooms to pee poop or for menstrual needs.

So to be clear, you are only concerned about kids smoking pot when they're smoking in the bathroom, thereby preventing other students from having pot-free bathrooms to use for bathroom use? Really?

That poster's message: parents parent your kids, leave school bathrooms available and free for the rest of the students. If your kid is doing whatever they are doing outside of school, you the parent figure out how to deal with them. Schools have a job to do: educate students. not babysit potheads.

"Parent your kids" is a wish, not a policy that MCPS can enact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vapes have really normalized the behaviors. Easy to hide. You can do it easily in a stairwell or bathroom. I have seen students use them in class. Completely different world from what many of you remember. There is much easier access to marijuana products and much easier sneakier ways to consume them.

what I remember is people smoking pot while sitting on their cars in the high school parking lot

That’s the point. They were rarely smoking in the school building the .

You'll have to explain to me why it's completely different for kids to smoke pot in the high school bathroom during school vs. in the high school parking lot during school.

kid is doing stuff in THEIR car, let the parents parent their kid. But inside the school? All students have a right to access clean and drug free school bathrooms to pee poop or for menstrual needs.

So to be clear, you are only concerned about kids smoking pot when they're smoking in the bathroom, thereby preventing other students from having pot-free bathrooms to use for bathroom use? Really?

That poster's message: parents parent your kids, leave school bathrooms available and free for the rest of the students. If your kid is doing whatever they are doing outside of school, you the parent figure out how to deal with them. Schools have a job to do: educate students. not babysit potheads.

"Parent your kids" is a wish, not a policy that MCPS can enact.

This is true, but MCPS can absolutely stop letting these kids dictate the school environment and educational experiences of the students who actually want to learn. Offer a virtual option or night school or whatever else for the 16 year olds who are spending the majority of the day in the hallway or bathrooms. Cut bait and realize it's not the school's responsibility to pick up every bit of parenting slack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That Kennedy teacher needs to move to elementary school if it's all too much for him at Kennedy. As many have posted, drugs are everywhere in high school.

If you think this response is the right response, you are the problem. I hope you aren't an educator.

+1 MCPS just announced that half the 10th graders are not on grade level. Maybe if some of those kids spent more time studying rather than doing drugs, they'd be able to pass the exams. Instead, what MCPS will do is lower the bar, and force teachers to pass these kids. Oh wait, that's already happened. They discovered that kids with passing grades weren't actually on grade level, and the books that are part of the curriculum are below grade level.

Seems to me that some of these MCPS admins are also smoking some strong stuff, and the MCPS apologists (employees probably) think we're as dumb as they are. That PP also probably thinks the bathroom issues are nbd, but if they were made to find an open bathroom in 3 minutes and do their business, they'd probably get really mad and complain to HR about it.

Reality is by 10th grade it's a bit late to be worrying if kids are behind. This is the ES fault as they don't have a strong curriculum, they don't teach the basics, and they don't catch reading and other issues early and help remediate them. Everyone blames the HS when it really starts in ES and the ES is failing the kids. Every kid should be reading by 1st grade or they should be getting an evaluation and extra support.

I work at an ES and we are trying so, so hard. In fact we lose teachers every year because the needs are so great and the behavioral issues so challenging. If it were easy, it would have been fixed by now.

[Anonymous]

What kind of kids are you DCUM people raising?

[Anonymous]

Why isn’t security clearing the halls and checking on bathrooms? Not hard to smell activity and as drug free zones, they have the authority to do this. Kids caught get a phone call to the parents. Repeat offenders go home and they can sit in their room doing virtual learning and smoke their weed in peace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why isn’t security clearing the halls and checking on bathrooms? Not hard to smell activity and as drug free zones, they have the authority to do this. Kids caught get a phone call to the parents. Repeat offenders go home and they can sit in their room doing virtual learning and smoke their weed in peace.

Because schools are supposed to be reducing suspensions and discipline referrals and state funding is stupidly tied to this. Parents who are concerned should be making a huge stink.

[Anonymous]

Did any of you attend the meeting at Kennedy last night?