School Yearbook Features Kids Doing Drugs

[catfishjake]

School Yearbook Features Kids Doing Drugs
Conifer High English Teacher Calls Pages 'Inappropriate'

POSTED: 8:17 am CDT May 22, 2007

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CONIFER, Colo. -- The teacher who oversaw the production of a high school yearbook that depicted drug and alcohol use issued an apology Monday, saying it was "completely inappropriate." Related Content: Yearbook Depicts Drug Use | Images

Conifer High School English teacher Amy McTague's apology was issued by the school district in response to a letter sent to them and the media that complained about the pages in the yearbook.

Parent Karen Marshall said in her Friday letter, "I am absolutely outraged at what has been printed in our student's 2007 yearbooks released a few days ago."


Her letter continued: "On p. 13, page title is 'Drug Addictions': there are pictures of students smoking pot, using bong paraphernalia, pictures of alcohol and prescription drugs with associated stories of each. Each caption is written in 6 pt. font so anyone over 40 would have to get their magnifying glass to read, which I feel was strategic on their part so parents would miss it, but its there all the same 'I smoke pot because it relaxes me, helps me deal with situations...there's nothing wrong with it.' says a student."

"p.33, there are pictures of police officers with stories of 'cops busting our parties' and 'law enforcement is a necessary evil' depicting law enforcement as an annoyance only to be disregarded if you don't get caught. I want our police officers to be respected for the heroes they are and this disgraces them and sends the wrong message.

"p.71 titled 'Regrets and Mistakes', shows a picture of three female students holding an MIP (Minors in Possession) certificate, one girl smirking in this picture, with the caption "...my regret was telling the cop the truth when they busted our party."

McTague responded in a letter dated Sunday, "It wasn't my intent or my students' intent to portray such a negative tone in their attempt to cover all aspects of a student's life and some of the very difficult choices they face ... I in no way condone or have ever condoned underage drinking or drug use of any kind and would like to make a positive impact on these issues with our students." Click here to read the full text of McTague's letter.

The school district also issued a statement about the controversy:

"The school district certainly understands why parents are upset about this portion of the yearbook. Jeffco Public Schools’ never condones the use of illegal drugs by students. The district will investigate all sides of this controversy and will take the appropriate action if necessary. "

"You cannot allow any kind of expression that promotes an illegal activity," said Conifer High Principal Pat Termin. "I really do believe that we have crossed the line."

One yearbook page includes a photo of students smoking marijuana from pipes and bongs. The caption reads, "There are things that are legalized, like alcohol, which effect you much worse than pot."

Another page glorifies underage drinking, according to parents. One photo shows a student being arrested with the caption saying, "I wish I hadn't told the cops."

The school is offering refunds to any student who wants to return the yearbook. Stickers with rewritten captions will be issued to students who wish to keep their yearbooks. The stickers can be placed under the pictures to cover up the original captions.

Marshall's letter to school administrators questioned why positive aspects of the school were "buried" in the yearbook.

"The school band, who was ranked 3rd in the state, was well hidden in the very back of the year book," she wrote. "Rather than promoting positive and productive student life, they have chosen to accentuate the negative. To look at it, you would think the CHS is riddled with pot smoking criminals and its a disgrace and disservice to our children, our families, and our communities who work to uphold good moral standards and drug free lives."

Less than two weeks ago Conifer High sophomores Justin Dorrance, 16, of Evergreen, Colo., and Clyde Gallegos, 16, of Pine, Colo., were killed when the Jeep Grand Cherokee that Dorrance was driving rolled over in Elk Creek. The Colorado State Patrol said that drugs were suspected as a contributing factor in the accident.

http://www.nbc5.com/education/13364357/detail.html#

 

[E-llusion]

The school is offering refunds to any student who wants to return the yearbook. Stickers with rewritten captions will be issued to students who wish to keep their yearbooks. The stickers can be placed under the pictures to cover up the original captions.

ROFL, so what will they be, Dora Stickers with "Now I know my ABCS's lala"

 

[drunken_etard]

I do not understand how this could happen? Did the students have complete control on making the book? Like the whole yearbook crew were stoners? That is so not like my school, a bunch of fucking NERDs run our yearbook committee.

 

[Kalash]

Our HS yearbook had something similarly ridiculous...

Some kid's picture had a... I don't even remember what...
cuss word or drug reference...

The release was delayed for about 2 months...
They went through all the yearbooks and put whiteout over the shirt.

Nearly everyone I knew scraped the whiteout off to read what the shirt said.



And D-etard... you'd be surprised how many nerds are closet stoners.
Especially today.....

 

[bromance]

Sounds like a fun school.

 

[billywitchdoc.com]

bahahahaahah

 

[dilated_pupils]

I could see it possible happening at the highschools, at least around here. I remember a lot of the popular girls were in the yearbook club, each person was assigned pages and had to finish them. I'm sure during the end of processing the book someone could have messed with the pages? I don't know.

 

[enoughorangejuice?]

wow those kids have balls. i remember kids at my high school had pictures with cups in their hand but they whited out all the obvious beer bottles, but NO ONE dared put a pictures of themselves blazing in their... now that i think of it i should have hahaha, or shooting heroin and selling drugs to little itty bitty children on school property.

i'd love to see scanned pictures of these pages anyone who knows where to find them should post a link!!

just found one here....

here's a 14 image slideshow... http://www.nbc5.com/slideshow/education/13365259/detail.html

can't believe some of the pictures hahaha, amazing.

 

[Kalash]

My opinion?

The kids are using...
It's THEIR yearbook.

Who cares if the parents are outraged?

Seriously...

If the parents were doing their jobs of RAISING THEIR CHIlDREN CORRECTLY these pictures wouldn't exist.

They're just pissed cuz it shows the world how pathetic these people are as parents.
Driving their kids to drugs at such a young age...

Then again, maybe that's the fault of society...
And the internet.
Because there is more information about risks available now than there was when our parents were in school.

How many of these kids know EXACTLY what they're doing to their bodies and DON'T CARE?

More than lit up in the '70's, '80's, and 90's....

 

[~*geNeRaTiOn E*~]

this happened at my old HS as well. cuss words and drug references placed in the senior pages got overlooked. the students and teachers in charge went through every yearbook (about 2500) and used permanent marker to black out all of the "obscenities." we just got a bunch of magic rub erasers and erased the marker

 

[delta_9]

If the parents were doing their jobs of RAISING THEIR CHIlDREN CORRECTLY these pictures wouldn't exist.

Are you saying people with "good parents" can't smoke pot and STILL be good kids.

 

[bromance]

I had a few friends on the yearbook staff in highschool. Come the end of the year, they were always WAY behind, and ended up throwing shit together with very little editing. I could definitely see things like this happening at my school. All kinds of names like "Hugh Jass" and "Mike Hunt" slipped through the cracks all the time.

 

[dr-ripple]

Better than Columbine

 

[enoughorangejuice?]

^ Not cool.

 

[Kalash]

Are you saying people with "good parents" can't smoke pot and STILL be good kids.

No.
I'm saying the parents would know about their children's drug use because they either approved of it, or talked about it with their children, and they wouldn't be opposed to it being in the yearbook.

The parents would inform the kids that drug use isn't something to publicize.

The parents would teach the kids to respect themselves enough not to put them self in danger of self incrimination.

If drugs were legal, things would be different... the pictures would be.... fine?
They'd be considered less obscene.

Ignorance of a child's drug use is the fault of a parent that isn't involved in their child's life.

If the parent disapproves of the child's drug use, they need to deal directly with the child to determine the reason for the drug use, the drugs being used, and the REAL risks involved.
If the child wishes to support their habit, they need research and knowledge to bring forth to their parents.


It's wrong of the parents to have no idea what's going on in their child's lives.


People use drugs for many different reasons.
Age is no longer the discriminating factor it used to be.

Children are denied their childhoods because both parents are forced to work leaving younger and younger children at home alone to fend for themselves.
The internet creates a medium for children to learn more and be more informed than their parents.

Today's society is flipping upside down; parents are less educated than their children.

And I'll stand by that.

The majority of adults stop learning once they begin their career.

There are exceptions - those who lose their jobs or seek to be promoted...

But most information gathering on their part ceases.


Children today have access to more information than their parents had at the height of the college careers.
This information is more accessible, diverse, and easy to absorb than the many books parents used to gain their knowledge.


To say that all children today are more educated than their parents would be a generalization that simply isn't true.
But for the majority of the working middle class? It is.

The definition of "child" no longer has the meaning it once did.

A good portion of the users of this site are under 18 (or were when they started posting/reading things on this site).

Are these "young corruptible minds incapable of making adult decisions" or are they simply people seeking information so they CAN make informed decisions?


I believe the biggest problem with today's society is the ignorance of those making decisions for the people (children) that are absorbing the information available today.


This ignorance is the fault of the parents.

Parents that know their children smoke pot aren't the ones complaining.
Parents that are involved in their children's lives would have raised their children to think for themselves.
If a child then chooses to use drugs, the parent must take into consideration that they may not have all the facts about the drug - either trust society and their beliefs they haven't researched for themselves... or trust their child that most likely has.

If a child isn't raised to make good decisions, this is the fault of the parent.

The laws of society do not dictate what is a good or poor decision.

Drug use does not create victims apart from those choosing to use the drugs (aside from addiction creating theft, and this desire driving them to commit other crimes to get their fix... But these would be bad decisions that should be made PRIOR to the child leaving the charge of their parents, NOT after when they have nowhere to turn for guidance other than the legal system.)


Daily I find myself teaching my parents things they choose not to think about because they want to live their lives in a tiny bubble of a world - where their job is EVERYTHING and nothing else (besides the bills and maybe a vacation once a year) matters.

They meet this information with STRONG opposition - defending their beliefs in defiance of scientific fact and reason.

If the parent is unyielding, incapable of taking in new information and reassessing their position on things, they are incapable of being a decent parent.

The strong emotional response to these pictures throws out reason.

The pictures are in the book for a reason.
This is a part of their children's lives.

If the parents reject the idea of this being a part of their child's life - therefore a part of their lives - they reject reality.
They are not good parents.


A parent must teach their child.
Interact with their child and learn their child's thoughts, helping to create a moral, ethical being that makes informed decisions.

Most children are born knowing the difference between right and wrong.
It's hard for a parent to mess up a child.
But they continue to manage to do so.

If a child is committing an act they believe is wrong, the parent has failed.

If the parent believes an act is wrong and the child commits this act, the child needs a good reason to have committed this act.
A parent's purpose in a child's life is to guide them to make the right decisions. Intervention in their lives, interaction and communication with the child are necessary. If a child commits an act their parents believe is wrong, the parent should find out about it.
The child has a duty to inform the parent, and the parent has a duty to ask and determine when there is something wrong.
At this point the child's actions need evaluated and a determination made if the act was good or bad... if the risk was worth the benefit.

These parents have not done this - they have reacted emotionally because of ignorance.
This is how the parents have failed.

 

[enoughorangejuice?]

^ did you really just type all that?

 

[Kalash]

^ did you really just type all that?

My bad.

/me goes to look for a life.


Sometimes it's better to just guess at what I'm saying and not ask questions
The answers are sometimes not really wanted

 

[InHerOwnWrite]

i wish i could zoom in on the picture and see what the pills in the bottles are... i can't tell on this computer.

really though, this is pretty shocking that the students would have THAT much control over the yearbook. this could never have happened at the high school i went to.

 

[bodhisattvastokked]

hahahaha.
that's hilarious.
& i thought my school was funny for featuring student's who are pregnant/ have kids.

this one takes the cake. hah

 

[t3h PeNgU1N]

aw i wish they could do dis in my yearbook