Guest Column

My ninth-grade health class is finishing up a drug/alcohol unit through Google Meet that was disrupted by the current crisis and school closure. We are having some great discussions about tobacco, vaping, alcohol, marijuana, opioids and other drugs.

It has brought some things to light that I want to remind everyone about:

• Some of the more commonly abused drugs today are actually prescription medicines. I encourage all parents to check their medicine cabinet and secure their current medicines or throw out old prescriptions.

After rotator cuff surgery two years ago, I still had a powerful pain reliever medicine in my cupboard. I have no kids in the house anymore, but I still discarded them. All medicine can be properly disposed of by placing them in the drop box in the Adams County Sheriff's Office in Ritzville.

• Don't flush them or throw in the trash.

These unprecedented times result in many teens being unsupervised at home. They are bored, have time on their hands and, in some cases, are becoming depressed.

That is just the sad reality and it is why it is even more important to look around your house and take the necessary precautions to secure tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, prescription medications and even your guns.

• All of our athletes are still under the athletic code they signed. Our code is in effect for the entire school year, even though spring sports are canceled.

Unfortunately, we have received some pictures from social media posts showing athletic code violations. We will deal with those, but I am more worried about the life consequences than I am the athletic consequences.

I am worried for our kids.

This is hard for us as adults to comprehend, let alone our young people with developing brains that simply lack the reasoning skills and ability to say "no" due to the undeveloped frontal cortex.

They are vulnerable.

I miss seeing and talking to my students everyday. I have half my health kids joining my class three times a week and some weight training students working out with me via Google Meet three times a week.

Being with them in a virtual world and checking in on them is better than nothing, but it is still not the same. As our online learning gets more structured in the coming weeks, please encourage your kids to participate in their class.

Even if the work is not graded or if students aren't very motivated to learn, the social interaction is huge for their health and well-being.

One of my favorite quotes by Steven Covey is "Don't let yesterday hold tomorrow hostage." Even though so many things are out of our control now, we will get through this. We have to keep looking forward, help each other, stay positive and only worry about what we can control.

Stay Healthy and Safe.

- Greg Whitmore is the athletic director for Lind-Ritzville High School. Email him at [email protected].