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Escambia County Third Grader Brings Mom’s Marijuana To School
April 20, 2011
A third grade student brought marijuana to and Escambia County school on Tuesday, launching an investigation by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Children and Families.
The 8-year-old girl, who attends Lincoln Park Elementary School, took the marijuana from her jacket pocket and told her teacher, “This is some of my mom’s weed. It’s what my mother puts in blunts”, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
According to deputies, the teacher, who says she was given the marijuana between the hour of 1 and 2 p.m., waited for the student to board a bus and leave school before she informed the principal about the incident. The sheriff’s office was informed at 2:20 p.m.
A deputy tried to locate the student’s mother by going to an address the school has on file for the student. While at that address the deputy was told by the student’s grandmother that her granddaughter didn’t live there, and she didn’t know where she currently resided.
“A good many societal problems are a direct result of irresponsible parenting,” said sheriff’s office spokesman Deputy Chris Welborn. “Children are being raised in an atmosphere that drugs and violence are normal,” he said. “It’s sad that this child had access to the stuff and was actually able to bring it to school.”
The student isn’t facing any charges, but the incident is currently under investigation by both the Sheriff’s Office and the State Department of Children and Family Services.
Comments
32 Responses to “Escambia County Third Grader Brings Mom’s Marijuana To School”
to “questioning?”…its quite easy to google “blunt”, like i did, to confirm exactly what i thought it was…often, a cigar is unwrapped and the contents are removed- the cigar wrapper is then used to rewrap the marijuana into a big, fat blunt.
hey joe oops i mean hey yo looks as if a few people are crying out for help themselves
Mr. Green——-Thank you for answering my question. “What is a blunt?”
I have never heard the term but then there are probably a lot of things I have never heard of—-Thank Heavens!
—-and you must remember that all of us are not blessed with superior knowledge in all subjects as you seem to be.
Thanks again!
TO JOE……..
I agree that a kid who brings drugs to school should be punished, but not in this case. The child was a 3rd grade 8 year old not in highschool. There is a major difference between the two. For all you know she was trying to get help for her mother or just point blank was a cry for help. She isnt the criminal,the mother is. Bottom line unless this child has shown signs of drug abuse leave her alone. She is still at an innocent age and at the hands of her mother is being forced to grow and learn things she shouldnt know at her age. Your argument sounds more like a personal problem to me, maybe from first hand experience in this matter maybe?………
REGARDING:
“What is a blunt?”
a blunt is a marijuana cigarette
David answering a question
whose answer should be obvious from context
REGARDING:
“The funny part about this is people think this kid is telling the truth why couldn’t she make it up”
It’s always possible. The mother could surely make that claim. “That ain’t my grass, I buy a different brand. I bet she stole that from the neighbor.”
One of my interesting relatives was found in the middle of a marijuana patch and successfully argued he was just walking his dog and had no idea what plants they were walking through. Law enforcement realized they couldn’t make the charge stick so they dropped it.
It is even possible the child didn’t bring the material. It is possible the teacher made up the whole thing. Unlikely, but possible.
If the teacher isn’t lying, the question would be one of how to respond to a child having the material in the school. If the student isn’t lying, the question would be one of how to respond to the claim. If the grandmother isn’t lying, the question would be one of what to do with the abandoned child. And, of course, they need to keep in mind what the legal requirements are lest our Sheriff badmouth them again for improper response.
David considering claims,
truth and responses
What is a blunt?
The funny part about this is people think this kid is telling the truth why couldnt she make it up isnt that what people think about the child saying her teacher was feeling on her. This is such a sad thing. I wonder why people dont seem to mind that parents drink beer infront of their children. what if the child would have brought a can of beer to school and said this is what my mom drinks and it makes her forget to pick me up from school on time.
REGARDING:
” rules are rules! If you do not like them, then be part of the process to change them”
Agreed, let’s change that one. Only a fool would decide this kid needs to be punished for not knowing not to bring Mommy’s blunt material to school and showing it to the teacher. The real danger to the kid is that Mommy may be unhappy with her daughter.
David for children
An 8-year-old child should never have to know what a “blunt” is. Very sad, indeed. Many prayers are needed daily for the school children in our neighborhoods, especially for a little girl with empty jacket pockets tonight.
I am saying Zero tolerance means zero tolerance!
when high school students are suspended for having or being in possession of “Midol” there is a serious injustice for a kid to come to school with Marijuana and nothing happen!
This is a double standard and rules are rules! If you do not like them, then be part of the process to change them!
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm Joe
what are you saying….you want to incarcerate the 8 year old child. 0:
“The student isn’t facing any charges, but the incident is currently under investigation by both the Sheriff’s Office and the State Department of Children and Family Services.”
So much for the zero tolerance drug policy the district has!
Zero means Zero, no tolerance, none at all. it is not ok for kids to bring drugs to school.
I’m sure this will be one of those things the family laughs about years from now. “Mama, you remember the time I took your weed to school, and you went to jail, and I was in foster care for the next ten years? Yeah, that was good times.”
Wondering if the child will show up to school this morning? If the child will be unharmed. Word of mouth gets around, and I am sure someone told the parents about this article. And what if there were other parents out there that smoke weed and they assume it is their child. There are probably a lot of druggie parents threatening their kids not to say anything about their drug stash. These parents are horrible people. My heart breaks for all these kids that never had a chance cause of their parents ignorance.
Today was unseasonably WARM. I still don’t understand why the child would have a jacket on. Just thinking out loud.
The teacher waited to turn in the weed? If she did not want to leave the class unattended, which may have been the rule, she may should have called the office, or the principal. Or perhaps, the teacher had to wait until the room was clear so that she could get some of the weed for her use, and she did not want the children see her go in the bag? hummmmmmm, JUST SAYING
Give me a break! She is a teacher. Put yourself in her shoes. She was put in a situation and acted accordingly. How does anyone know what they would do? They don’t.
im sure that the unfortunate teacher was taken aback…(ok, maybe in shock)…but, she had approximately, give or take, an hour to recover and then, take the appropriate steps…sadly, it certainly was NOT to delay proper notification, thereby deliberately waiting until the (endangered) child got onto the bus to return to “home”….you morally and legally must err on the side which first and foremost protects the safety of the child…God forbid, at this point, who do you think would bare the biggist burden of (legal) responsibility, should that child ultimately come up missing or harmed?——> the school board, principal, teacher would be major players.
Yes, let’s base teacher salary on student scores. Sorry, Florida, we don’t test on blunts and weed. You lose. This child brought weed to school on the last day of FCAT testing. Do you think a test score is high on her priority list? I think it’s not.
Truly, a test score does not matter for this child. It shouldn’t matter … to the teacher or to the state or to this community. Her life is in turmoil and her future is already limited. How I wish I could slap some sense into the parents!
This poor child probably views “normal” in a totally different light than our own children. Did this child go home to a loving family, nutritious dinner and stable environment? Is the child sleeping in her own bed, undisturbed for a good 8 hours before getting up to a healthy breakfast in a calm environment? I hate to think of what this child has already seen in her short life. As for DCFS … good luck. You call in abuse and they come see you … not the child. It takes weeks just to get them to locate the child and locate the parents and then removal from a home to a more stable environment only happens when all of the junkie relatives have been ruled out as “stable”. (Yet another set of our state workers who are understaffed and overwhelmed!)
And DON’T you dare pick on the teacher. We don’t know the whole story.
overworked and understaffed … gets the kid sent home on a bus while teacher deals with drama drama drama …
WOW..HE IS SOOO SMART !!! HE COULD TELL THAT IN SUCH A SHORT VISIT……?????? COME AGAIN WHEN YOU CAN STAY LONGER…
The teacher did the right thing..maybe she should have held the child from the bus, and brought her to the principle..but im sure she was in total shock.
Heaven Help Our Teachers! How many of you have ever been in a classroom with 20 to 30 second graders ? You don’t just go down the hall to the principal’s office and leave them alone. Do you have a phone—yes, maybe in the work room! Do you herd all the children with you—including the child you are discussing? Again, why would any person in their right mind teach school? They love kid’s—that is why. Each and every person in the world should have to be in a classroom for six full weeks.
This is very disturbing! This story and the one about the Atmore gun and bat fight are examples of appalling behavior that is all to common in our area.. Hardly a day goes by that we don’t read about this sort of thing and it always seems that ignorant, lazy people are always the ones involved..
I cannot believe the teacher waited. There is a good chance that the child is being abused as well. I mean how many caring parents do weed and let their children get ahold of it. And I have no respect for a teacher that didnt get on the ball and do something immediately.
The 3rd grader said.. blunts.. That is a good sign of her being exposed to this enviroment for a while. I know by now mom has throw away the weed but… lets just pray that DCF gets involved 100% . It’s no wonder teachers have their hands full. ps “smokey” I’m sure you hide your weed around kids. Good Job!
Hindsight is 20/20. Some think faster than others. We all learn as we go. Perhaps we are all a bit prematurely opinionated too often. Ya reckon? At least she reported it, and if the authoritie are doing their job, they will be monitoring the situation. Besides…….I do not know what family services is like in 2011. But, I know what it was like a few years ago. I would not want them in charge of my child.
Why don’t people hide that stuff where kids can’t get to it.Don’t do it in front of them either. Then your butt wouldn’t be in trouble.before you say it’s illegal anyway, so is speeding and spitting on the sidewalk….cast the first stone!
The 3rd grader acted smarter than the teacher!!! SHAME!!! The child should have NEVER been allowed to leave until ECSO & DCF & the MOM were @ the school. The address the school had on file was not wher the child lived. Now this has been published & no1 knows where they are @ the moment ..what are the chances the mom sends the child back to school tomorrow?? DCF &ESCO do some FAST work here..this is a child asking(begging) for help & she got sent home!!!!
First, this is a sad story…
… then;
- some will jump on the teacher… keep in mind he or she did not sit on this for a month, a week, or a day… but 20 minutes… we don’t know what else was going on in the classroom. The “waited for the student to board a bus and leave school before she informed the principal about the incident” is probably drawn from the official statement… but may not show the intent to wait that it would seem.
The principal could not have been notified at 2:20 and notify the sheriff at the exact same moment…
My point is that there is likely 2 (or more) sides to the story.
Also,
That the child was not living at the address of record is not surprising, people move in with relatives or list their address for purposes of getting their children into schools all the time….
I know it is tempting to rush to judgment… but there is more to this sad story then what we read online….
… I wish we could just punish the parent(s?) of this girl… but there is a bigger problem here… many children are living in horrible situations. Too many to pretend this is an isolated problem.
Saying all that I hope they bust mom, and interview the girl to figure out if there are worse things going on.
original me..I agree with you. No matter what that student shouldn’t have been able to leave school. No telling what’s going to happen to her now. Teachers should have to learn what to do in situations like that. She probably just didn’t want to get the child upset by causing a big ta-doo, but still…
Why in the world would the teacher let this young child board a bus and leave ??
it would seem this child is in a lose-lose situation – mom will probably be really mad when she finds her drugs gone and now the child is in possibly more danger. I t seems like the child was reaching out for help and sure did not recieve it from this teacher…………..hopefully the child is ok.