Danger in Numbers

The following is taken directly from an April 18, 2012 email to parents of students at West Des Moines Valley Southwoods Freshman High School:

Dear VSW Parents/Guardians:

At a community meeting on Monday evening, it was suggested that building principals share the following information from the WDM Substance Abuse Coalition about April 20th with our parents:

4:20 or 4/20 (pronounced four-twenty) is a term used as a discreet way to refer to the consumption of marijuana and a way to identify oneself with the drug subculture. Marijuana users observe 4:20 as a time to smoke together and April 20 has become a counterculture holiday, where people gather to celebrate and consume marijuana.

4:20 has become a code for a time to get high, a symbol of marijuana and its culture. Teenagers believe they can talk about getting high in front of their parents without them knowing by using the phrase 4:20. Fortunately, your teenager will not have that option. April 20 events are international and 4:20 has become a worldwide "burn time." For parents, it's a red flag, a warning sign that your teenager may be into something that could harm their future. When you see the symbol 4:20 or your child wearing excessive green clothing on April 20, beware of what it represents. April 20 has now become National Pot Smokers Day.  Our pop culture is pro-marijuana, as evidenced by the success of movies and celebrities who flaunt their use. This makes it more difficult for parents to get anti-drug messages across to kids. Use 4:20 as your opportunity to get a dialogue going about drugs, and not just marijuana.

Isn't that awesome/crazy/stupid!  When I read this, I knew immediately there was a high (no pun intended) probability I would blog about it.

This email is asinine for a lot of reasons, many of which I've written about before.  (Just click on the labels.)  These reasons can be put into two main categories:

1) School administrators who think it's their job to govern kids 24/7.  Like I've said before, what happens outside of school or school functions is the responsibility of parents.  If the parents choose not to raise their children the 'right' way, that doesn't make school administrators their surrogate.

Trying to educate parents on pop culture like this is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to do a parent's job.  I love how the author notes at the beginning that "it was suggested that building principals" share this information.  Who suggested it, one of the principals?  Had to be I guess, because if a parent knew about four-twenty, they'd already have a grip on communicating about it.

2) People who think any suggestion of marijuana means the worst.  It's a "warning sign" if your kid wears "excessive green clothing" on 4/20?  A warning sign of what, that they follow pop culture or that they must be a pothead?  You mean like if a girl wears a short skirt she must be a slut, or if a boy wears a sideways cap he must be a gang member?

And how about the statement that "our pop culture is pro-marijuana"?  I see a helluva lot of pop culture that "flaunts" drinking too much, or using violence, but smoking pot?  Not so much.  Regardless, smoking pot would be less harmful than either of those other two things, but our society is much too repressed to admit that!

So kudos to you, Valley Southwoods Freshman High School administrators, for drawing attention to this falsely dangerous calendar date.  You've truly earned the ridicule that the students are going to point in your direction on four-twenty.