Kids need to face drug-taking consequences

Kids need to face

real consequences

I'm writing in response to your article "Division on drug proposal" [News, Dec. 18] regarding police drug-sniffing dogs in school and drug-testing athletes. Hiring more guidance counselors and social workers, as one superintendent suggests, is a costly and wasteful measure to a real challenge.

As a former troubled youth who, even as an athlete, flew under the radar, I fell through the cracks. My guidance counselor spent time with students who were on the "fast track" toward big-name colleges, and who had pushy and ultra-involved parents. Spending more of taxpayers' money on these wasteful positions would not guarantee results.

What guarantees results? Using our men and women in blue to teach our children a lesson I later learned: responsibility, and the earlier they learn it, the better. I eventually learned my lesson and became a professional with a master's degree.

Money does not solve everything, and sometimes the fear of real consequences is necessary.

Nancy Laurice

Melville