School hands out home drugs testing kits to parents.

[buttmunch]

TILTON, N.H. - Officials at Winnisquam Regional Middle School will be offering parents more than spaghetti dinners and teacher meetings at an open house — they'll also be passing out home drug testing kits.

Dave Tryon, the district's substance abuse coordinator, said there will be enough urine testing kits at a Sept. 21 open house for families of all 430 students, if they wish to take them. Drug use at Winnisquam — which serves Tilton, Northfield and Sanbornton — isn't higher than any other middle school, he said, adding that the point of the kits is to encourage parents to talk to their children about drugs.

He said the kits also may help kids refuse drugs.

"The student can say, 'I can't because, you know, my family drug tests at home,'" he said. "That gives the child a way out. And anytime you can give a child a way out of doing something risky, I can't see something wrong with that."

Winnisquam Superintendent Tammy Davis agreed. "Drug testing can be thought of as a report card that shows how successful a child has been in saying 'no' to drugs," she said.

Tryon said Thursday students haven't yet been told about the drug tests but so far response from school staffers has been positive.

"They're all for it, saying this is good," he said.

Tryon requested the kits from Phoenix, Ariz.-based Not My Kid, Inc., after finding its web site promoting "Project 7th Grade," which distributes free drug testing kits to middle schoolers, who are at the age when drug use often begins. In case of positive results, the project gives parents the opportunity to send the kits to a lab for free confirmation.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14604723/

Something about this just really pisses me off. Alot. I suppose, as a parent, I should worry about drugs but I actually don't. I did drugs when I was young, I hope my kids don't do drugs and I plan on talking to them about drugs in an open and honest way. But the day I drug test my kid is the day I'll know I've blown it as a parent.

[Sojiita]

Holy shit I am glad they did not have this when I was in school.

[buttmunch]

No kidding. I would have been dead meat.

[burnt_toast]

I'm actually thrilled that these tests are available - it's much more of a deterrent knowing that your mom could show up at your door with a kit from CVS!! What a hoot!

I'm not sure I'd ever test my own (unless their behavior began to concern me that we might have a serious drug issue), but since the oldest is 5 I'm not spending too much time thinking about it. Nice to know it's an option if needed though.

[MrsDark]

I barely did anything until my 20's. But I went to a really good, highly academic private school in the 80's (graduated in 1988) and for every kid I knew who was "ruined" by drugs/drug use I knew about 4 or 5 who used and still seemed to be able to function well enough to attend school and at least graduate. And in many cases be/stay high achievers. Hell for that matter, I knew kids who probably would NOT have been able to graduate with honors if it weren't for the fact that they were cranked up half the time pulling all-nighters.

Being the 80's and a lot of rich kids at this school, coke was the big thing back then. It was the less well-off kids who tended to smoke weed, though I'm sure plenty of the $$$ kids did that too. And pretty much everybody drank except for the totally straight nerds and people like me who would 'fake drink' at parties by holding a glass/beer bottle and pouring it out a bit at a time when no one was watching. But fuck...if my mom had happened to pull that shit on my ass the one or two times I DID actually drink something...or the one time at 15 I did take a hit off a joint, she probably would have went into hysterics and been convinced that I was a "druggie".

Unless you're a totally shitty parent or batshit clueless (like my mom...but not an excuse in this day and age), you should be able to tell if your kid doing anything drug-wise beyond the occasional experimental getting high/drunk. I feel for the kids. You know the parents who are gonna be gung ho for this shit are gonna be the crazy, controlling ones who have been micromanaging their kids' lives since birth and want to shelter them from everything under the sun, and basically don't realize that they have normal kids. Now, if you have a kid you've had to stick in rehab before, I can maybe see it.

[Grimmlok]

A kit? Geez.

My mother just held a flashlight in my face and told me I was a drug user cuz my pupils were big.

Of course, i didnt touch the stuff till i was in my 20's so i dunno wtf she was talking about..

[Delphinium]

i don't agree with this at all.

bottom line either your parenting is effective or it isn't.

i'm a mom, not a parole officer.

my kids when they were growing up knew the rules, and they knew the consequences.

do drugs? get caught? then you best have a j-o-b because you are outta' here.

never had a problem as far as I know, and the no-news is good news policy applied.

[sweetrebel]

Originally Posted by MrsDark

Unless you're a totally shitty parent or batshit clueless (like my mom...but not an excuse in this day and age), you should be able to tell if your kid doing anything drug-wise beyond the occasional experimental getting high/drunk.

I am very close to my kids, and consider myself to be a good parent, but had no idea that my youngest daughter had been getting high. We had been to a carnival one night and she and a friend were acting really strangely. They were talking one minute (on the ride home) and asleep the next. I mentioned to her sister that I hope they hadn't taken anythig. A week or so later, she sat me down and told me that she wasn't doing any drugs, but she had. She said it was important to her that I know the truth. She told me the whole time she was getting high (a matter or 3-4 months) I had no idea, and the one time she hadn't done anything I thought she had. She thought it was important to share that with me, and I respected her for that. She told me that she just decided it wasn't for her and hadn't done it since.
I think that if parents are pushed to the point that they feel like they have to drug test their kids, the communication stopped a long time before that. It's hard to talk to your kids about drugs and sex, but it is important that you do. You want them to get the right information so that they can make informed decisions.

[Grimmlok]

Kids will experiment, trying to stop them is generally useless. I'd prefer any kids i have (yeah right) to wait until their late teens or early 20's to dabble..

However, dabbling in smack or crack or anything super hard would be cause for alarm, but most kids dont.

[Miss Kitty]

First of all.... how do you force someone to pee for you?
I have a hard enough time at the doctor's office for annual physicals if I have to do it in a cup to benefit my own health. I butted heads with my parents when I was young, but if they told me I had to pee in a cup for them I don't know if I could have done it even if I tried...which I don't think I would have.
This brings to my mind American Beauty, where the teenager kept urine supplies in a small fridge in his room for just that purpose.
I'm not a parent, but from my own experience as being a youngster I don't think the drug test thing would work unless they dragged my ass into the bathroom and squeezed it out of me like juice from a lemon

[Sojiita]

Originally Posted by Miss Kitty

First of all.... how do you force someone to pee for you?
I have a hard enough time at the doctor's office for annual physicals if I have to do it in a cup to benefit my own health. I butted heads with my parents when I was young, but if they told me I had to pee in a cup for them I don't know if I could have done it even if I tried...which I don't think I would have.
This brings to my mind American Beauty, where the teenager kept urine supplies in a small fridge in his room for just that purpose.
I'm not a parent, but from my own experience as being a youngster I don't think the drug test thing would work unless they dragged my ass into the bathroom and squeezed it out of me like juice from a lemon

you force someone to pee by having the result of NOT peeing being a jail sentence...trust me...I have been there..and you DO pee!

[buttmunch]

I barely did anything until my 20's. But I went to a really good, highly academic private school in the 80's (graduated in 1988) and for every kid I knew who was "ruined" by drugs/drug use I knew about 4 or 5 who used and still seemed to be able to function well enough to attend school and at least graduate. And in many cases be/stay high achievers. Hell for that matter, I knew kids who probably would NOT have been able to graduate with honors if it weren't for the fact that they were cranked up half the time pulling all-nighters.

Being the 80's and a lot of rich kids at this school, coke was the big thing back then. It was the less well-off kids who tended to smoke weed, though I'm sure plenty of the $$$ kids did that too. And pretty much everybody drank except for the totally straight nerds and people like me who would 'fake drink' at parties by holding a glass/beer bottle and pouring it out a bit at a time when no one was watching. But fuck...if my mom had happened to pull that shit on my ass the one or two times I DID actually drink something...or the one time at 15 I did take a hit off a joint, she probably would have went into hysterics and been convinced that I was a "druggie".

Unless you're a totally shitty parent or batshit clueless (like my mom...but not an excuse in this day and age), you should be able to tell if your kid doing anything drug-wise beyond the occasional experimental getting high/drunk. I feel for the kids. You know the parents who are gonna be gung ho for this shit are gonna be the crazy, controlling ones who have been micromanaging their kids' lives since birth and want to shelter them from everything under the sun, and basically don't realize that they have normal kids. Now, if you have a kid you've had to stick in rehab before, I can maybe see it.

Well said, well said. You are absolutely right when you say the parents who'll take advantage of this will be the helicoter mom and dads who can't stand the thought of little junior/juniorette doing one thing without their knowledge. And those kids are probably the most likely to need drugs to relieve the stress of being micromanaged to death. Next step: junkie in alphabet city.

[MrsDark]

Originally Posted by Miss Kitty

First of all.... how do you force someone to pee for you?
I have a hard enough time at the doctor's office for annual physicals if I have to do it in a cup to benefit my own health. I butted heads with my parents when I was young, but if they told me I had to pee in a cup for them I don't know if I could have done it even if I tried...which I don't think I would have.
This brings to my mind American Beauty, where the teenager kept urine supplies in a small fridge in his room for just that purpose.
I'm not a parent, but from my own experience as being a youngster I don't think the drug test thing would work unless they dragged my ass into the bathroom and squeezed it out of me like juice from a lemon

Are you kidding? How about: "Until you pee in this cup you have no car, no TV, no cell phone, etc. other priviliges and NO LIFE" If they're still living in your house, don't you have a say?

The kid in that movie was smart, but had also already been socked away in rehab with plenty of time to get clean and be able to legitimately piss clean a few times (probably with dad or someone else standing in the room) and earn the trust back by being generally cooperative.

[KD]

Originally Posted by Delphinium

i don't agree with this at all.

bottom line either your parenting is effective or it isn't.
i'm a mom, not a parole officer.

my kids when they were growing up knew the rules, and they knew the consequences.

do drugs? get caught? then you best have a j-o-b because you are outta' here.

never had a problem as far as I know, and the no-news is good news policy applied.

Whatever. I personally know parents that have many children and all are good, non druggie kids but sometimes even "effective" parents have a child who does drugs. I had shitty, sorry, non effective parents and have never tried drugs. Good parents can have bad kids and bad parents can have good kids. All parents can do is try to keep communication open and try their best. How they are raised certainly helps, but IMO, is not the end all and be all in kids trying drugs.

I think this is fine, if parents want these tests, take 'em, if not leave 'em for someone else. Although my kids are little, I couldn't see testing them, unless they gave me a reason to be suspicious.

[Miss Kitty]

Originally Posted by MrsDark

Are you kidding? How about: "Until you pee in this cup you have no car, no TV, no cell phone, etc. other priviliges and NO LIFE" If they're still living in your house, don't you have a say?

NO. I wasn't kidding. I guess I am talking from another era because when I was a kid I didn't have a TV in my room, a cell phone, or much of anything to forfeit but my life. I grew up when getting sent to your room or being grounded meant deprivation not saying pity me because I'm stuck in my room with cable, video games, pc's. I pods, cell phones. in order to ground someone these days I guess you'd have to build a "grounding" extension on your house and pat them down before you sent them there in order to actually deprive them of anything and make them actually consider the consequences of what they did

Originally Posted by Sojiita

you force someone to pee by having the result of NOT peeing being a jail sentence...trust me...I have been there..and you DO pee!

It's unfortunate that you had the knowledge to explain that to me but at least I understand it in that case. Guess I wasn't as much of a tear away as people made me out to be!