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Legal Action Considered Against Suspension
Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jun 2007
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2007 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact: http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Joe Friesen
Cited: Wawota Parkland School http://www.cornerstonesd.ca/~wawota/
Cited: Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy http://www.cfdp.ca
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Kieran+King
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada)
LEGAL ACTION CONSIDERED AGAINST SUSPENSION
Student Who Spoke Out About Risks of Marijuana, Alcohol, Falsely
Accused of Selling Drugs, Mother Says
WINNIPEG -- A video recording of a free-speech protest at a
Saskatchewan high school shows a school superintendent saying
publicly that 15-year-old Kieran King had been accused of selling
drugs at his school, even though his mother says he had never been
investigated or charged, or even spoken to by the school principal.
Kieran's mother, Jo Anne Euler, says the drug-selling accusation is
false, but hasn't yet decided whether to pursue legal action. Her
first priority is to appeal the school's decision to prevent Kieran
from writing his final exams, which means his grades will fall from
the high 80s to the mid-50s.
The video, which can be seen on YouTube, shows the peculiar
seven-person protest outside Wawota Parkland School last week. It was
organized, with the help of the Saskatchewan Marijuana Party, after
the principal threatened to call police if Kieran continued to talk
about the relative health risks of cannabis, alcohol and tobacco -
his response to a school presentation on the dangers of drugs.
Just before the start of the protest, the principal ordered a school
lockdown, brought in the RCMP and later conducted a threat-assessment
on Kieran. He and his brother were suspended for three days for
leaving school grounds, preventing him from writing his exams.
Superintendent of education Velda Weatherald tries to explain on the
video why Kieran was told not to talk about marijuana in school after
a student complained to the principal.
"When a student or parent comes with a complaint to the principal,
all she did say was if ever anyone was promoting drug use or was
actually trying to sell drugs - and there was an accusation," Ms.
Weatherald says.
A voice off camera asks, "Against Kieran?"
"Yes," Ms. Weatherald replies, but refuses to offer further details.
Kieran has said several times that he has never used or even seen marijuana.
Neither Ms. Weatherald nor any other representative of the South East
Cornerstone School Division would speak to The Globe and Mail yesterday.
Ms. Euler explained that Kieran has always felt strongly about the
dangers of alcohol and tobacco. Nineteen years ago, Ms. Euler's
husband and eldest daughter, who was nine at the time, were killed by
a drunk driver.
"I know for a fact that's why he looks up all the negative facts
about alcohol, that adds some fuel to it," she said. "He knows the
effect, because you just don't ever get over it."
"The day before all this started, on May 29, we were driving and as
usual he was talking about all his statistics, and he said to me:
'Mom, I just can't understand why people smoke and drink when they
know the effects of it. When you read the statistics, why do they
still do it?' "
Kieran is currently in Shanghai, where he is studying Mandarin and
working as an English tutor. One of the reasons he was allowed to go
to China on his own, his mother said, is that since her daughter was
killed, she has been reluctant to stand between her children and their dreams.
She said the reaction to the controversy in Wawota, a town of about
600 located a 2-hour drive east of Regina, is slowly improving. One
parent approached her yesterday to whisper some words of
encouragement, she said. "She said she's sick of the way that school
is run, and she said there's lots of others that support you but
they're just afraid to speak out, so I felt a lot better after that,"
she added.
But she is dismayed that the ordeal has made her son, whom she
describes as a research-obsessed computer fanatic, look like a
criminal and a drug dealer.
Eugene Oscapella, an Ottawa lawyer and founding member of the
Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy, said Kieran should be commended
for standing up for his rights.
"If he is saying that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or
tobacco, he's probably dead right," Mr. Oscapella said. "So what is
wrong in an educational institution with discussing these issues?"
Audrey Trombley, the elected chair of the school board, said she had
spoken to the director of education and believed that everyone had
acted appropriately.
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