Joseph Califano charges public officials with ‘child abuse’ by compelling teens to attend drug- and gang-infested public schools

“The percent of children in drug-infested middle schools—usually kids 12 to 13 years old (and younger)—has increased from 23 percent last year to 32 percent this year, a jump of 39 percent,” says the report.

The definition used in the survey for drug-infested schools is that “drugs are used, kept, or sold on school grounds.”

“A child who gets through age 21 without smoking, using illegal drugs, or abusing alcohol is virtually certain never to do so,” says Califano. But the odds of finding such youth are becoming increasingly less. He spoke at the Kaiser Foundation Building, Aug. 19, when the report was released.

Public vs. Private/Religious School

Nearly half (46 percent) of teens from public schools report that gangs are at their schools compared to only 2 percent of teens at private and religious schools. Even though the focus of CASA surveys is on drug abuse of teens, this difference in gang-infested schools is itself a remarkable finding.

Differing perceptions of drugs by teens in private and public schools is yet another disturbing trend in the survey. In 2001, CASA found 62 percent of public school students and 79 percent of private and religious school students said they attended drug-free schools. In this year’s survey the percents are 43 and 78, respectively. Hence, the difference in drug-free schools widened from 17 to 35 points.

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