FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD
Posted on 01/17/2003 8:01:41 AM PST by robertpaulsen
Parents in the high-desert say it's not what they expected their six year old' to learn in school, but police say teachers at Yucca Valley Elementary noticed one of their first graders doing a show-and-tell with marijuana they say he brought to school. The boy's parents are under arrest for child endangerment.
In elementary school, kids are thinking about recess and what's for lunch. You don't think drugs are even in the picture. But yesterday, police say drugs were at school, brought there by a first grader.
It's not what you'd ever expect a six year old to bring to school, a bag of marijuana, a pipe to smoke it in, and a lighter. But police say a first grader at Yucca Valley Elementary had all three of these things on campus, showing them off to his young classmates
Jennifer Whittemore's son Caleb is seven years old. Too young, she thought, to understand what marijuana is. Now she says it's a topic she's going to have to tackle
“I've warned my kids, but they don't know what it looks like. He would think it was candy.”
Police say a teacher found the boy with the drugs Tuesday morning, and quickly took them away and called the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department. Sgt. Fred Gonzales says the 6 year old knew what the drugs were, and told them exactly where he had found them.
“He told police he picked the marijuana up at his home,” says Sgt. Gonzales.
After police interviewed the boy, they came here, where they say they found even more drug paraphernalia inside the home.
The boy's father, Douglas Ballard, and his live-in girlfriend, Heather Peterson, were arrested for willful cruelty and child endangerment. And police say they've been to their home before to search for drugs. Both are now behind bars, on $100,000 bail.
As for the boy, he is now living with relatives.
We did speak with school officials, but they did not want to comment on the incident.
I would say that this qualifies as an answer to the question, "Who is hurt by marijuana, other than the user?"
I don't buy that argument, but that's their comeback.
For some strange reason, I fail to see how this parent was "willfully cruel" to his child for merely posessing marijuana. Hey may be guilty of stupidity, perhaps, but "willful cruelty"?
And police say they've been to their home before to search for drugs. Both are now behind bars, on $100,000 bail.
And Now the child is in the hands of CPS, or in a foster home....certainly that is a far less "cruel" environment. < /sarcasm >
Do you mean hurt like in the sense of if the parents had cigarettes or alcohol around the house that the kids had gotten a hold of?
Puh-lease!
If true, she must have stupid kids, while they may have no reason to know what pot looks, smells, tastes like, but it sure isn't candy!
Might have been cause for a tailgate party.
Seems to me that with marijuana the child would have had to figure out how to get the seeds out, roll it up, and put a light to it. With a beer, all they would of had to do is figure out how to pop the top. Given the logic put forth here, beer would seem to be more of a child endangerment issue.
Expensive, imported, oregano. So keep your grubby little mitts off of Daddy's OREGANO!!! ;-)
FWIW, I was more focused on the "willful cruelty" charges.
Now, I am certain that intrusive state was not involved in the child's current living arrangement in any way. After all, ANY relatives are, better for suited to raise a child than a pot-smoking parent. < /sarcasm >
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.