A 12-year-old student is under arrest for allegedly handing out prescription drugs at a Tulsa middle school.
It happened Thursday at Hamilton Middle School. At least seven students took the pills and started feeling sick. They went to the nurses office and two were later taken to the hospital by their parents.
The students who took the pills should all be fine. Today, the school met with the kids and their families to try and find out how they got the pills and to discuss how serious taking prescription drugs is.
Police and schools now say instead of marijuana or crack cocaine, the drug of choice is in your medicine cabinet.
Traci Bailey was surprised to learn her seventh grade daughter has seen friends use prescription pills at her school in Broken Arrow.
"I asked her where he gets this stuff," Bailey says. "She said from older siblings."
"Typically, how these kids get these pills is they take them from mom and dad's medicine cabinet," says Tulsa Police Spokesperson Jason Willingham.
Tulsa Police and Tulsa Schools say prescription drugs are teens new drug of choice.
"It's kind of a fad right now," says Tulsa Public Schools Spokesperson Tami Marler. "And it's something that parents really need to be aware of."
Last month, an ad campaign began airing on TV. It says everyday 25-hundred kids try prescription drugs for the first time.
"Time and time again officers respond to overdose situations where people take too much medication. And when you're talking about a child with a small body, those drugs can have major adverse effect."
"I've put them all up," Traci says about her prescription medications. "I've just recently been on some medication. So, I carry them around in my purse with me and keep my purse with me all the time."
But, Traci says even better advice for parents is to know what's happening in your kids life.
"Lots of parents don't know who their kids are hanging out with. And, that would solve a lot of problems if the parents would be involved."
The student who gave out the drugs is being held in the juvenile center. School officials say both the student and the seven others who took the pills could face in or out of school suspension.
Schools can't discipline kids. Neither can parents, for that matter. If a child is lucky enough enough to have two parents at home, they are both working and really don't have enough time to spend with the kid to know who/what is influencing their lives. With our Oklahoma being in the bottom 10 (possibly bottom 5) of the 50 states as far as teaching salaries, the quality of our teachers is at an all time low. You get what you pay for! It's as simple as that.
These are problems which are far beyond an easy fix of the next popular 'just say no' type program. Get used to it. It's not going to get any better without MAJOR change across the board.
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