I've been a bit distracted lately with the end of the semester, laundry, dealing with my oldest son's getting caught smoking pot at school, otherwise known as the needling little things of life. I know that I am trivializing matters just a bit, but I'd rather do that than overreact to the situation, which everyone else in the "system" seems to want to do. I wish to assure my hundreds (thousands?) of dear readers that I am taking what the child (henceforth referred to as "dumbass") did seriously and am putting on a good show of anger, but that's probably all it is.
His school, which is to say the "old" school, took a slightly different approach. Dumbass needed to be made an example of, so the moved to expel him. Don't get me wrong here, I get that a 14 year old should not be smoking pot, and that to do so on campus, at 7:30 in the morning, is just plain stupid. I get that the school needed to deal with him especially because of his troubled past (last semester he stole a bag of chips from the lunch lady and ran) and I get that they want to show that they're doing everything to stop the scourge that is marijuana. I also get that, if polls are accurate, half of the adults in Dumbass's school, the teachers, principals, janitors (for sure) are getting high. Shit, it's almost recommended for Jr. High teachers. I'm not saying I shouldn't have had to beg my superintendent to take the boy into our school district, I shouldn't have had to take the child to a shrink, I shouldn't have to go to court with him for his "possession of paraphernalia" ticket (is that really a crime?), I shouldn't have to walk around like I'm profoundly worried and answer endless questions like: "Why do you think he did it?", "What else do you think he's doing?", "Why us?" I should have to do all of those things, but I do wish people would see the bigger picture.
Dumbass smoked pot on campus because he's 14. He doesn't love school, but he does love his pot-smoking, surfer friends and their older brothers/dealers. He likes cute, easy girls who like pot smoking surfer types. He will probably not be smoking much pot for the foreseeable future as he's getting drug tested once a month, no longer has access to facebook and will never hang out with most of his alleged friends again. He's in a new school and can find new pot-smokers to hang out with. In any case, I truly believe he's going to survive, and not just because it helps me to sleep at night. I'm glad the boy got caught and if there some deep psychological reason that Dumbass started to smoke pot, we will find it. I suspect there is none. I think he probably did it because it's fun and makes people laugh.
I'm writing this as I give a final to a group of junior year honor's students, all of whom look like they either need a bong load soon or they'll go on a violent bender. I don't have my head buried in the sand, but I know that teenagers in affluent America need a bit more fun in their lives. Either we find ways to provide it, or they will.
