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Interact Article

Pomperaug.. where fighting makes you cool
Sunday, January 23, 2005
bnapoli.com Interact Article

Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to read my opinion on what is going on around Pomperaug right now. Just this weekend, there was an article posted in the Republican-American newspaper, a newspaper based out of Waterbury, Connecticut. The title of the article was "Town worried about school," and I don't think a single person in that 'town' or the towns surrounding it, hasn't read this article.

I personally am a senior at Pomperaug High School. I was part of the 2004 State Champion Football team for the past four years, I'm the President of FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) and I have lived in Southbury for my entire educational career. I've always been involved around the community through sports and other activities, and I can be spotted around town at all parts of the day. In addition to this, I'm the creator of what may seem like a meaningless website, but what is actually an online location with a strong connection to the community. A site that visited by a variety of people of different ages, and locations. Because of these things, and the fact that I am a senior at Pomperaug, I would like to represent some of the student body by submitting a response to this article.

The article deals with things happening around town lately, not just at the school. Some students have recently been involved in numerous run-ins with the law, but things aren't as bad as this article makes it seem. Random student interviews concluded that drinking and marijuana are 'commonplace' and 'everybody does it.' I don't know how one completely random student could represent or speak on behalf of the entire student body about what it does or does not do. Then to have it published for how ever many thousands of people to read as fact. Tell me a High School in the United States that doesn't have a problem with students doing such things. It also mentions some recent drug overdoses in the area. I could be wrong, but the incidents in which they speak both occurred off campus, should the students be viewed down upon because certain students abuse a drug on their own time? Things like this makes readers think Pomperaug students are OD-ing in the halls and falling down the stairs or something, which isn't the case at all. Two people made poor decisions with their body outside of school hours and they happened to be students at the school - thats it. Though I will admit, some students have made some pretty bad decisions, it doesn't mean every student thinks or acts the same way. However, things like breaking into the local pharmacy and doing donuts while drunk on the soccer field are pretty dumb, so I can't defend PHS on that one.

But the points I just mentioned aren't my real problem with the article, my problem with the article is how it portrays the students to the community. On paper, it looks pretty bad, and there have been some serious problems with the law, but lots of this is overexaggerated. The "problems with non-prescription drugs" may be the activities engaged with by certain groups at school, but it surely isn't a campus-wide problem. Then the article presents something soo ridiculous I had to laugh at it.

Students at the school say the problems are getting worse, and not just with substance use. Some are turning to fighting to be "cool." "They think that if they fight, they'll get a better reputation," Fernandes said.

I consider myself pretty alert as to what is going on around Pomperaug on a daily basis, and call me crazy, but I don't think anybody at Pomperaug would consider you "cool" if you fought somebody else at school. People fight people for the same reasons people fight anywhere, not because the students will give them high-fives afterwards and parade them around on their shoulders. Thats just not how it works. In fact, I think if I saw a classmate intentionally fight on school grounds, I would consider them foolish. I say this because they started something that could only last a maximum of 30 seconds, and will only result in disciplinary action and EXTREME hassle from school officials and parents. But according to the papers and some students I've never seen before, people are fighting for a better reputation. Personally, I've never even heard people around school discussing others "fighting reputation" in the four years I've been a student. I'm not saying there aren't some people that probably think fighting is the ticket to coolness. However, these are also the people who get arrested across the street from the school for fighting, then carry the newspaper article around in their pocket to show people how hardcore they are that they can't even find a place to fight where they won't get raided by cops in 3 minutes.

There are so many things that can be said about this article but I feel I've accomplished what I want already. All I'm trying to say is that Pomperaug isn't as bad as the newspaper makes it seem. Contrary to what the article makes you believe, people aren't ODing in the bathroom, selling hardcore drugs in the cafeteria, popping bottles in class or "brawling" in the hallways. Pomperaug is just a normal high school like every other one. Every school in America has students that drink and do drugs, its not like Pomperaug is this cesspool of beatdowns and alcoholics that stands above the rest. I just don't want to hear "soo.. I hear Pomperaug has gone down the toilet" from people that read that article and think we're animals or something.

There is an additional article on this topic which has been submitted anonymously over the internet. Click here to read it, or navigate to the Interact page.

SOUTHBURY -- Cigarettes are the least of their worries.

Two drug overdoses, narcotics sales, alcohol possession and campus brawls are the types of incidents that prompted Region 15 officials to ask the Southbury Board of Selectmen last week for a full-time police officer at Pomperaug High School.

Some students and parents agree there is a need. "There are a lot of drugs and there's obviously drinking," said Melanie Fernandes, 16, a junior. Marijuana, she said, has become commonplace.

"It's no big deal anymore because everybody does it," Fernandes said.

While she and her friend Andrew DaSilva, 15, said they do not partake, they said it's not uncommon to smell marijuana smoke in the restrooms, and even more common to find a restroom locked altogether because it was being used for purposes other than what is intended.

Southbury Police Sgt. Ken Kramer said along with random drives through campus, officers are periodically called to the school by officials when they spot problems.

"That's when some of the arrests are being made, when we drive through unannounced," Kramer said.

Students say on any given day a surprise visit by the police would yield some infraction.

While Kramer could not divulge specifics on the incidents involving juveniles, he did say the overdoses were with non-prescription drugs other than marijuana.

"If you are blinded by the the fact that you don't think there are drugs in Southbury, then you do have a problem," Kramer said. He dismissed rumors that heroin and other hardcore drugs have made their debut at the school, but said some of the problems they are encountering are with non-prescription drugs other than marijuana.

"We've made three narcotics arrests in the last month or so on school property," Kramer said.

One teen was arrested Jan. 11 after school officials say they spotted beer in the student's vehicle and called police who, upon searching the vehicle, allegedly found marijuana and drug paraphernalia, including an electronic scale that could be used for weighing the drug.

Another teen was charged this month with criminal trespassing and driving while intoxicated after he allegedly drove his car onto the school's soccer field late one night.

Students at the school say the problems are getting worse, and not just with substance use. Some are turning to fighting to be "cool."
"They think that if they fight, they'll get a better reputation," Fernandes said.

Ermira Malo, 16, transferred to the school from Kennedy High School in Waterbury where she said officers in the school made a marked difference in student conduct.

"That's really a good idea ... there are definitely drugs," Malo said, as one of her fellow students jokingly called her a "snitch."

David Henderson, who has two teenagers at the school, said if the school thinks there's a problem, he supports the idea of an officer in the school.

"I don't mind paying taxes for that, you have to keep the kids safe," Henderson said. One student said he thinks a full-time officer in the school would be taking things a little too far.

"I think it's kind of over-reacting," said Taylor Wilson, 15. "Video games will get you in trouble these days," he said, referring to an incident last fall in which some students interpreted a conversation between other students as a threat against the school.Although the students eventually were allowed to return to school and apologized for what they said was never intended as a threat, school officials took the incident seriously. Wilson said having a cop hanging around the school will only serve to make people nervous and won't stop them from doing whatever they want to do. DeSilva disagrees, saying he believes a drug-sniffing dog would be a potentially good deterrent to students thinking about bringing drugs to school.

Kramer said the problems at Pomperaug are being experienced at high schools everywhere and that putting an officer in the school would be a preventive measure worth taking.

"I would certainly say that it is not out of control ... having an officer in the school would help reduce some of the activities going on and some of the problems in the school," Kramer said.