Posted on 01/29/2005 5:38:14 AM PST by Ellesu
'This ain't working,' boys declare before taking more--
Six Kirby Middle School students downed strong doses of tranquilizers and passed out in class Thursday.
Students said the six boys took several pills before getting dizzy and dropping out of their desks or falling down by lockers.
They were taken to Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center about 9:15 a.m., Memphis City Schools spokesman Vince McCaskill said.
Their injuries weren't life-threatening.
The school at 6670 E. Raines has about 1,200 students in grades 6-8.
"It wasn't six students at one time, it was one and then another one. They were in different classes," McCaskill said.
Four girls also went to the hospital after eating possibly tainted candy they bought from the boys.
They were also in noncritical condition, McCaskill said.
All the hospitalized students were seventh-graders.
Memphis police were investigating Thursday, but no students were arrested.
Seventh-grader Sherrell Jackson said she heard one of the boys talking to students about the drugs in computer class.
"He was telling them the pills will get you high," she said.
She was in science class when the boys started passing out.
"They were saying, 'This ain't working,' then they started taking more pills, then they fell out," she said.
One boy tumbled out of his desk and lay on a rug in the classroom, she said.
Her mom, like dozens of other parents Thursday, checked both of her daughters out of school early.
"As a parent, I was upset," Minnie Hunt said. "I feel that parents need to get more of a grip on their children. You are responsible for anything your child brings to school."
McCaskill said the boys took 100-milligram pills of Risperdal and Clozaril.
Dr. Jolene Bailey, a clinical psychologist, said the drugs are tranquilizers used primarily to control schizophrenia or people who are highly agitated.
"I suspect if you took enough of it, it could kill you," she said.
But that's not likely the case here since the children obviously didn't ingest that much, she said.
"They're going to sleep for a while, then they'll wake up and be OK," she said.
Memphis police Insp. Matt McCann said police were trying to find out how the pills got to the school.
Some of the students may face discipline, McCaskill said.
"At this point, our main concern is making sure they're OK."
They took the bus? Gak! What a foopid stool.
The BOYS brought the pills to school. The question should have been, from where did the boys get the pills?
That attitude was a great deterrent to getting into trouble when I was growing up. As you say, it STILL works.
It's the teenage equivalent of "Hold muh beer."
Me too, and after the school finished with you, your parents got you and then when you went to your grandparents' home, they got you too. LOL.
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