High School for Addicted Teens

Re “Making the Grade, Clean and Sober,” March 7: Since when is it public education’s role to insert itself into the domain of the family, the church, the medical establishment and the police? Providing a school for drug-addicted teenagers under the guidance of [some] re- covering-addict schoolteachers is a waste of taxpayer dollars and another example of how educators do everything but educate in today’s anarchic public school system.

Ask recovering alcoholics or addicts what they had to do to beat their habits and the first thing they’ll tell you is they had to sever all ties with their drug-abusing peers and stop frequenting the places where they used alcohol or drugs. Creating a special school for these special kids and their special teachers does exactly the opposite.

Schools should educate. Period.

KEITH KARPE

San Clemente

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I am an old, skeptical alcoholic who is more interested in these students’ histories five or 10 years after graduation from this program.

JOHN WARREN

Los Angeles

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Many thanks for the excellent article regarding our school. I used to believe that the drug problem was as simple as learning to just say no. However, dealing with kids at risk for over 20 years, I have learned that an addict’s problem has little to do with just saying no. It is a result of a genetic cocktail that is different within all of us. In the not so distant future, I suspect a genetic engineer will isolate the exact strand within our DNA and change it enough to allow an addict to “just say no.”

Whether it’s sobriety or education, counseling or boosting self-esteem, teachers open doors that allow students to become all they’re capable of being. It’s not a secret that one of the fastest growth industries in California is the building of prisons. By opening more schools, teachers will be able to close more prisons.

ALLAN TAMSHEN, Teacher

Thoreau High, Woodland Hills