I've been lurking on this forum for years. This is the first time I've contributed. I suppose I could go to my admin and ask for a solution for what I've witnessed a couple of times from my classroom window. But, then I would be confessing I had seen kids smoking pot and I did nothing about it. This anonymous forum seems to me the best place to get some advice.
Three times now I've seen the same kids smoking pot during lunch time. At first I though it was a nicotine vape pen, but having visited the spot after they are gone, the odor of marijuana lingers on.
These are high school seniors. They are good kids. Good students. Not trouble makers. Personally, I see no problem with smoking pot. I can't say I haven't indulged on occasion.
I am inclined to approach one of them I know best and suggest they at least not smoke on campus. However, if I do that I am in effect telling them I condone pot smoking and have simply asked them to do it someplace else. Marijuana is not legal in this country. Kids talk and I'm certain my request will be passed on to the other participants and from there, who knows? Eventually to one of their parents?
My gut level reaction is to just ignore their gatherings and leave it at that. Any one have some advice?
Kids smoking marijuana on campus
Response
Good kids? How? They are violating the regional criminal regulations by engaging in illegal drug possession and use, and if any of them shared with any of the other members in their group, than trafficking and distribution of an illegal substance. As Marc Fogel is minor possession is a "trivial offense"
What you really need to figure out is if you have any mandate to report and if that mandate is a legal one or a policy one. A policy one you can probably talk your way around, with some strategic planning "No sir, this is the first time I witnessed these students engaging in this behavior and I can only describe the smell upon investigating as what has been described to me as what cannabis smells like". If its a legal issue, then drop a dime on them, their behavior was their decision not yours. Its relatively simple to inform your IS leadership through a burner email account, and you can copy the Horseman in the same email. That should get your IS moving on taking definitive action. What you dont want to do is put yourself in any kind of position where you could be an accessory either by action or inaction, depending on the reporting requirements and situation in your location and/or policy. You dont know what is going to happen, but you dont want this to come crashing down on these kids and then have them point a finger at you and say you just told them to go off campus, or worse they turn it around on you and use it to apply leverage on you. They could claim you dont really know what they were smoking, and that you were just guessing; but if you have an obligation or mandate to report and you did nothing, and knowingly failed to report, then just push go on your exit plan, its not going to get better. These students could use that to curry favor with you, good kids do that to.
If you dont have a problem with it though, why bother to post about it here? Shrug, move on, you never saw a thing, and get on with your life. For someone claiming to not have a problem, youre actions are lacking congruence with your claims. If its not a problem, why make it a problem? Not for the forum or the contributors, but your brain isnt letting this go for some reason, which suggests a problem.
What you really need to figure out is if you have any mandate to report and if that mandate is a legal one or a policy one. A policy one you can probably talk your way around, with some strategic planning "No sir, this is the first time I witnessed these students engaging in this behavior and I can only describe the smell upon investigating as what has been described to me as what cannabis smells like". If its a legal issue, then drop a dime on them, their behavior was their decision not yours. Its relatively simple to inform your IS leadership through a burner email account, and you can copy the Horseman in the same email. That should get your IS moving on taking definitive action. What you dont want to do is put yourself in any kind of position where you could be an accessory either by action or inaction, depending on the reporting requirements and situation in your location and/or policy. You dont know what is going to happen, but you dont want this to come crashing down on these kids and then have them point a finger at you and say you just told them to go off campus, or worse they turn it around on you and use it to apply leverage on you. They could claim you dont really know what they were smoking, and that you were just guessing; but if you have an obligation or mandate to report and you did nothing, and knowingly failed to report, then just push go on your exit plan, its not going to get better. These students could use that to curry favor with you, good kids do that to.
If you dont have a problem with it though, why bother to post about it here? Shrug, move on, you never saw a thing, and get on with your life. For someone claiming to not have a problem, youre actions are lacking congruence with your claims. If its not a problem, why make it a problem? Not for the forum or the contributors, but your brain isnt letting this go for some reason, which suggests a problem.
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Heliotrope
- Posts: 1175
- Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am
Re: Kids smoking marijuana on campus
newtothisgame wrote:
> I am inclined to approach one of them I know best and suggest they at least
> not smoke on campus.
This what I would do, sort of.
I'd tell them I'd smelled it but wasn't able to catch them in the act, but that is not allowed on campus, or anywhere (in their country).
I wouldn't tell them to smoke it elsewhere, I'd just tell them to not smoke it on campus.
I wouldn't try to be relatable by saying you're actually ok with smoking weed or that you have done it yourself (although it would convey the scary idea that smoking pot might lead to a career in education), just simply state that if someone catches them in the act they will have a big problem. Nearly getting caught might scare them enough to stop doing it at school.
> I am inclined to approach one of them I know best and suggest they at least
> not smoke on campus.
This what I would do, sort of.
I'd tell them I'd smelled it but wasn't able to catch them in the act, but that is not allowed on campus, or anywhere (in their country).
I wouldn't tell them to smoke it elsewhere, I'd just tell them to not smoke it on campus.
I wouldn't try to be relatable by saying you're actually ok with smoking weed or that you have done it yourself (although it would convey the scary idea that smoking pot might lead to a career in education), just simply state that if someone catches them in the act they will have a big problem. Nearly getting caught might scare them enough to stop doing it at school.
Discussion
I disagree with @Heliotrope , not strongly, because it sounds very reasonable in a sort of made for television way that depicts edus and students. My issue is that this is a crime, and likely in a region with heavy penalties just for drug possession, and that this type of behavior is a violation of the ISs policy somewhere. Not reporting it has serious negative implications for the IT and theres no benefit to the IT for, at the very least not report it to leadership. Assuming they word the report in such away as to not indicate they ignored the behavior in the past. Theres a lot of risk of serious downside consequences and no upside for the IT. @Heliotrope is arguing AGAINST CYA, and an IT should always be thinking and acting towards first CYA.
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Heliotrope
- Posts: 1175
- Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am
Re: Discussion
PsyGuy wrote:
> I disagree with @Heliotrope , not strongly, because it sounds very
> reasonable in a sort of made for television way that depicts edus and
> students. My issue is that this is a crime, and likely in a region with
> heavy penalties just for drug possession, and that this type of behavior is
> a violation of the ISs policy somewhere. Not reporting it has serious
> negative implications for the IT and theres no benefit to the IT for, at
> the very least not report it to leadership. Assuming they word the report
> in such away as to not indicate they ignored the behavior in the past.
> Theres a lot of risk of serious downside consequences and no upside for the
> IT. @Heliotrope is arguing AGAINST CYA, and an IT should always be thinking
> and acting towards first CYA.
If I worked in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia and overheard two local students outside my classroom window say they think the prophet Muhammed made it all up and Islam is a bunch of nonsense, would I report this, knowing it might lead to a death sentence?
Hell no.
Nobody knows I overheard it (just like the OP, who says they saw it from their classroom window, and I'm assuming they were by themselves but the OP can correct me if I'm wrong), which means my ass and the OP's ass are both covered.
If the OP makes a remark to that student that they smelled an odor resembling cannabis in that area but that they haven't seen who actually smoked it but just wants to warn him that it is illegal since they know that that student hangs out in that area sometimes, and then say that should the student ever be tempted to smoke pot they should resist that urge given the strict laws in place, then that would still not put the OP at risk since they're not saying they actually witnessed anything illegal, but it could lead to positive change in student behavior (or at least be more careful about where they smoke it).
They could tell SLT that they have smelled pot, without needing to report specific students. Ass covered and no unnecessary victims.
> I disagree with @Heliotrope , not strongly, because it sounds very
> reasonable in a sort of made for television way that depicts edus and
> students. My issue is that this is a crime, and likely in a region with
> heavy penalties just for drug possession, and that this type of behavior is
> a violation of the ISs policy somewhere. Not reporting it has serious
> negative implications for the IT and theres no benefit to the IT for, at
> the very least not report it to leadership. Assuming they word the report
> in such away as to not indicate they ignored the behavior in the past.
> Theres a lot of risk of serious downside consequences and no upside for the
> IT. @Heliotrope is arguing AGAINST CYA, and an IT should always be thinking
> and acting towards first CYA.
If I worked in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia and overheard two local students outside my classroom window say they think the prophet Muhammed made it all up and Islam is a bunch of nonsense, would I report this, knowing it might lead to a death sentence?
Hell no.
Nobody knows I overheard it (just like the OP, who says they saw it from their classroom window, and I'm assuming they were by themselves but the OP can correct me if I'm wrong), which means my ass and the OP's ass are both covered.
If the OP makes a remark to that student that they smelled an odor resembling cannabis in that area but that they haven't seen who actually smoked it but just wants to warn him that it is illegal since they know that that student hangs out in that area sometimes, and then say that should the student ever be tempted to smoke pot they should resist that urge given the strict laws in place, then that would still not put the OP at risk since they're not saying they actually witnessed anything illegal, but it could lead to positive change in student behavior (or at least be more careful about where they smoke it).
They could tell SLT that they have smelled pot, without needing to report specific students. Ass covered and no unnecessary victims.