Marion City Schools is partnering with Crawford-Marion ADAMH Board, the Marion-Crawford Prevention Programs and other agencies to launch the Prevention, not Punishment program. The program asks students to take a pledge against drug abuse and sets up a voluntary drug testing program in Marion County.
The program is designed to raise awareness and promote prevention of prescription and non-prescription drug abuse among children and within the community. It will provide voluntary drug screening and educational resources to combat against the epidemic of prescription and non-prescription drug abuse in Marion County.
Other partners include Marion Public Health, Marion Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, and MARMET Drug Task Force.
Grant Middle School and Harding High School will be the first two schools in the county to implement the program.
Prevention, not Punishment is modeled after the Cole’s Warriors program in Clark County. According to the Cole’s Warriors website, Cole Ryan Smoot, a Tecumseh High School sophomore, died in 2011 after taking a Methadone pill that was not his. Many students admitted afterward to knowing the drugs were in the school and several knew Cole had them, but no one came forward.
Smoot’s mom, Danielle Smoot, worked with others in the community to launch initiatives including a voluntary drug screening program that gave students a reason to say “no” to drug use and gives parents an opportunity to discuss drug abuse.
“She wanted to take a proactive approach,” said Jodi Galloway, director of Marion-Crawford Prevention Programs.
Galloway said the Marion program will be similar to Cole’s Warriors. It is being implemented in Marion in response to concerns about drug abuse and a push to start a voluntary drug testing program.
Students promise that they “will not take any harmful or illegal substances for entertainment, to impress my friends or to relieve stress.” They also agree to “take the necessary actions to help my friends and family members to stay drug and alcohol free.” By signing the pledge, they agree to take part in random drug testing.
“They (students) have to volunteer to sign up for it and be willing to take the drug test,” she said. If a child volunteers to sign up and is randomly tested, results whether positive or negative will be sent to the parent.
A letter with details will be sent home to parents. The letter informs parents that the school will not be provided test results. The results only go to the parent or guardian.
Both a parent or guardian and a student must sign the consent firm. If a student signs the form then refuses to be tested, the parent or guardian will be notified.
A database of participants will be maintained at Marion Public Health. Names will be randomly selected from the database and a health department nurse will request the students selected to submit a urine sample at the school clinic. Neither the school nurse nor other students will be present.
Neither the school nor the parent will have to pay for the testing. It will be funded with money confiscated from drug arrests in Marion County.
Amy Wood, principal at Grant, said she hopes the program “sparks some conversation between students and their families about making good choices.”
“The schools are not notified of the results, but we are open to offer support to families if they choose to notify us,” she said.
Kirk Koennecke, principal at Marion Harding, said the program “allows us to be more proactive in providing a resource or point of contact for a child to share, or to ask questions about lifestyle and wellness choices.”
More information on the program is available by calling 740-387-8531, ext. 32, between 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Information is also posted to the Marion City Schools website at www.marioncityschools.org.
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