In the past few weeks, over a dozen Ralston Valley students, most of whom are either freshmen or sophomores, were suspended and/or expelled for distributing and/or using LSD at school.

Due to these recent events involving drug use, many questions and concerns have been raised. Multitudes of students have expressed their opinions on the matter and how it has affected the perception of the school.

The reputation of this school is a crucial idea to the student body and students like Carrie Bishop (’18).

“Although there might have been rumors about this kind of behavior,” said Bishop, “events like this make it really clear that those rumors aren’t just rumors.”

The reputation of this school is moving in a direction where it has not been previously, and with rumors like these being proven, and over a dozen students being either suspended or expelled, that direction is one being driven by evidentiary drug use.

This school’s reputation has taken a hit as RV is now seen as a “drug school”, moving farther away from a school of excellence. The way that the school’s reputation has shifted is shocking to many students, and something that seemingly came out of nowhere.

Sure, recreational drug use has certainly occurred previously, but the degree that it is happening is a lot more frequent than previously seen, and the severity of drugs being used by students is astounding.

It appears that drugs are becoming more normal nowadays, as more and more issues are sprouting up.

“I think drug use is a reality,” said Caroline Dockerty (’18), “but it’s always shocking to hear how far it’s gone.”

Most students are aware that things like this are going on, as it is something that many hear about, but the severity that it has reached still surprises students.

Certainly, the comfort that students seem to have with using illicit drugs is still quite uncomfortable for many of their peers.

A majority of RV students stay away from drugs, and it doesn’t have a personal effect on their lives. The minority of students who are regularly using drugs is still alarming. And those who have moved on from recreation drugs like marijuana to Class A drugs like LSD is shocking.   

Part of the problem that could have led to these incidents is that most of the students don’t really know the consequences or haven’t really been made aware how big a deal doing drugs at school can be. Information about drug use and what it entails is scarce, which could be a way for students to feel ‘OK’ in doing it.

Another way that students might have felt justified in doing this is because “the excitement of doing something new and dangerous might produce a thrilling feeling,” Turner Gordon (’18) said.

The feeling of just doing it might overcome the opposition to it, as everyone has said that they feel like the students doing it know that what they are doing is wrong.

Even though students know that it is wrong, they still continue to do it, which is a major problem. The reasoning behind this seems to point to a way out of stress, a way to seem cool, something to do that is exciting and the ignorance of the consequences.

The recent events have seen many students “disappointed that kids don’t have desire to do greater things for their future,” said Gregor Tzinov (’18).

Students are unsettled by the prior events and it is sad to see that some kids aren’t achieving their full potential.

The drive for students to succeed and look to the future seems to be getting lost in the temptations that are prevalent now.