Do (or did) your children tell you about the drinking and drugging habits of their teenage classmates?

Tonight, my daughter was telling us about a classmate who spent all summer getting high each day, and who also smokes cigarettes. The classmate was called to the office, and she asked my daughter to hold her cigarettes for her. Not sure why. I don’t know if cigarettes are illegal in her school. Of course, if they weren’t cigarettes, then it would be perfectly understandable.

Anyway, my daughter said she made a face, and the classmate asked someone else to do the “cigarette” holding. I guess she was probably a bit cleverer than I am about what was really going on.

The reason why the classmate went to the office was to answer questions about a fellow she was known to be partying with over the weekend. This fellow had been missing since then. The classmate said he was probably too wasted to know where he was.

Wow. I don’t know what to say. I am concerned about the boy. I hope he’s ok. I’m glad my daughter didn’t hold the cigs. I’m glad she feels she can talk to us about this, but I’m damned if I know what to say.

I knew I a lot of people in college who were druggies in high school, and were doing just fine in college. They were mostly bored in high school because there were no challenges and nothing for them to do. I feel bad about our high schools and I know a lot of people have permissive attitudes about drugs. Schools are different, but I think most of that is for show. I don’t think anyone is really serious about a) figuring out what the real problem with drugs is and b) doing something about it.

What kinds of experiences have you had with teenagers and drugs in high school?