There are two big issues that affect high schools everywhere: drugs and bullying.

As teenagers become more discreet about bullying, they’re learning how to become discreet with drug use as well.

At our school, we focus on the wrong issue: classic abuse. Since when have you seen a kid put into a locker or a group of kids smoking pot behind the dumpster?

The problem of drug use is definitely here, and more emphasis should be placed on the issue.

Since elementary school we have been taught to “tell a trusted adult” when someone is being bullied. What were we taught to do if we found out our friends are using drugs? Nothing. So, we laugh with them about it. We high-five them about it. We do it with them.

While Kansas requires, according to a state directive, that school districts educate their students on bullying awareness, no directive requires drug education. A state directive is intended to influence what is specifically taught. To me, that is the state saying “if we ignore one of the problems, then maybe it will go away,” which is unrealistic.

We all see how some of our peers are spending their weekends. People aren’t sitting around beating each other up; they’re sitting around smoking weed.

It’d be more effective if drug education was provided in middle school. Red Ribbon Week during elementary school didn’t teach me anything except that if I didn’t have the right raffle number, I didn’t win a prize.

The administration shouldn’t shove drug awareness programs down our throats during high school, either, but maybe a few educational seminars on the impact of drugs will bring light to the topic. You may know that drugs are bad for your body and illegal, but perhaps a person who lost their life or is jailed for drug use could force an impact.

So where do we draw the line between education and oblivion? Perhaps we could start with drug education that will be provided to students in middle school where they can handle discussion of drugs. Parents need to be aware of the possibility that their kid could be using drugs as well.

The school district needs to step up and implement a plan that will educate students about drugs at the right age and stop ignoring the problem.