Schools missed chance to teach lesson

Sometimes kids do things that are just too stupid to have a serious conversation about.

But the over-reaction from Clovis’ public school officials regarding the great Smarties candy debate needs to be discussed.

For those who don’t read news of the weird, three Clovis middle school students last month were suspended two weeks for allegedly crushing the candies into powder and snorting them like they were cocaine.

At least that’s what one parent says they were accused of doing. School officials have said almost nothing publicly. A letter from Marshall Middle School to Kelly Cook says her son was involved in an incident “concerning the possession of drugs/Smarties.”

Cook said her son was suspended from school for 12 days because he and others were grinding up the candy into powder; but instead of snorting it, she said he was blowing it at other students.

In case you’re wondering, Smarties have no narcotic properties. Medical experts say snorting the powder can lead to asthma attacks or long-term breathing issues, but you can’t even get high.

Cook said she is seeking legal help because she doesn’t want her son to have a permanent school record that shows drug possession.

After media reports about the issue, Clovis Municipal Schools Superintendent Jody Balch issued a statement that said, “No student involved in the Smarties incident has a drug possession on their student record.”

Good to know. But why exactly were the kids suspended after school officials sent out a letter comparing candy to dangerous narcotics?

It’s not hard to figure out what happened here. Some kids were acting like fools on school grounds and, because they were simulating drug use, they were banned from classes for two weeks.

They probably learned a lesson: Don’t pretend to do drugs at school.

But school officials missed out on a real teaching opportunity. Instead of using the incident to punish — isn’t that always the way public schools respond to bad behavior? — they could have provided the students with materials about how cocaine can cause respiratory problems. After its intense high, it sends the user crashing into an angry, hostile, anxious world in which they have trouble sleeping and eating.

The message could have been, “cocaine can ruin your life and even kill you.” Instead, the message was, “Horsing around with candy is dangerous, just like snorting cocaine,” which is a lie.

All of our communities in eastern New Mexico have problems with drug addiction. To solve them, we have to start by being honest about the effects.

Snorting cocaine is addictive and may well destroy your heart and liver. And yes, it can kill you at a young age. If you don’t believe it, Google Chris Farley, Mitch Hedberg and Len Bias and see how they died.

Snorting Smarties is a good way to get an asthma attack. That is all.

Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Clovis News Journal’s editorial board, which consists of Publisher Robert Arrowsmith and Editor David Stevens. All other views expressed on this page are those of their authors.