Hopkins School District #270

12/15/2009

Question

How does Hopkins Public Schools respond to concerns about drugs in the schools? 

Answer

Hopkins Public Schools recognizes that substance abuse is an issue that all high schools and communities face. There is no doubt that chemical health issues are a leading public health concern facing adolescents in this county; yet, it's not just a problem isolated to Hopkins Public Schools communities. We take great steps to ensure that we maintain a safe and drug-free environment for our students. We work to do this through a series of preventative measures such as canine searches, building strong communication systems with our students that allow and expect them to report suspected or known drug use, and through the work of the Hopkins Community Coalition: One Voice for reducing youth chemical use.

We have increased our HCC One Voice prevention efforts in various ways including the showing the One Voice Our Voice video to many audiences, the use of the HAZE documentary; the development of youth focused marketing campaigns (BETTER WAYS and Your Voice Your Choice); numerous parent education opportunities, the advocating for Social Host Ordinances locally; advocating for enforcement of Safe and Drug Free Schools policies by using canine searches; and the development of faith community initiatives, etc.

When prevention efforts are increased it might be perceived by some people that the problem is big; however, to do less prevention often leads to an increase in substance use and abuse by youth.

HCC One Voice coalition membership has doubled in the last year and a half (now 150 members) because people want to help keep our youth safe, legal, and healthy.