The Truth About Westridge Middle School
She arrives at the bus stop 5 minutes later after hugging you goodbye, and she meets some new people. Some eighth graders, wearing all black, and another seventh grade girl, wearing a black hoodie in the middle of summer, with a look in her eyes that says, flat out, “Don’t bother me, because I’m tougher than you are.” Your daughter is shocked, but she likes it.
By the end of this year, your little princess is dressed in all black, her old friends are all gone, and she carries a purse covered in safety pins, holding a pack of Marlboro Reds, a cell phone, and black lipstick. Her hair is dyed black, and her face is pale with all her makeup. She walks out the door every morning much later than she should, without so much as a word to you. She’s got that same smirk like that hardcore girl, who has become her best friend, and a boyfriend that you do not approve of in the slightest. You think to yourself, day after day, “How did this happen? How did she change so much? What happened to my little girl?” Middle school changes everyone, some more drastic than others. From my own personal experience, I can tell you exactly what happened.
Westridge Middle School is in a very nice area of Johnson County, Kansas, which is known to be one of the nicest areas in the United States. It is a nice, clean school, with wonderful teachers who care a lot about their students. However, every rose has its thorns: Like all schools, there are the kids that choose to break the rules, and the law.
Not only do hormones effect the way these middle-school-age teens think and react, but their entire mental state changes. At Westridge, many elementary schools came together, and “good kids” meet their own kind, while the “bad kids” attract their own kind, too, and often other kids that used to be straight A students that never did anything wrong. Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and shoplifting are common among “the hardcore kids,” and a lot of parents don’t even know what’s going on. Because some teens of this age group can’t keep their hormones under control, sex is also common. I personally know at least five girls that first came to this school as virgins and left after eighth grade with slutty reputations. Fights are at least a weekly occurrence in this school and many others in the area.
The most common drugs among teens in this age and area are marijuana, alcohol, Dextromethorphan, amphetamines, and inhalants. Marijuana, as most people know, is a smoked plant also known as “weed” or “pot,” which constricts blood flow to the brain, producing a feeling similar to that of alcohol. A lot of teens smoke pot to relax and be considered “cool” by their peers. Dextromethorphan is a chemical in a lot of cough medicines, such as Robitussin and Dayquil. People drink a bottle of Robitussin or take anywhere from 8-20 Dayquil, or pills of similar varieties, and it gives a feeling which can’t be described to anyone who’s never felt it, but it is highly dangerous, and most stores keep this medicine behind the counter now. Amphetamines, also known as speed, are drugs that speed up your heart rate and give you an energy buzz, which can last several days. Adderal and Concerta, two prescription ADHD medications which contain stimulant ingredients, are often sold and abused by teens in this age group. Lastly, inhalants, such as nitrous oxide, found in canned air, are extremely dangerous. Most inhalant users don’t know that it could kill you instantly.
Is it the school’s fault? Is it the teachers’ fault? Certainly not. Westridge is like every other middle school in the aspect of the kids and their choices. Just because it’s in a good area does not mean that kids won’t be doing drugs, having sex, or smoking. Of course, not all students in middle school are druggies, and not all of them have had sex, but in this day and age, even the kids that appear to be perfect little angels are doing inappropriate, or even illegal, things behind their parents’ backs.
Every school has rules, as does Westridge. The teachers to a wonderful job of keeping kids quiet in their seats during class, but what goes on in the halls is known only to those who are participating in it.
It’s really frightening to think about what goes on at schools like Westridge, but the statistics are getting smaller and smaller, the rates for drug abuse and teen pregnancies are dropping, and if everyone would make a little bit more effort, these problems would disappear completely.
