When you hear the word “drugs” what substances come to mind? Most people would answer: marijuana, cocaine, Ecstasy, PCP, or perhaps even alcohol. I doubt many individuals would categorize Vitamin C as a drug… unless, of course, you’re a fourth grade teacher in Florida.
According to reports, said teacher accused one of her students of not only possessing drugs, but also of selling them after she saw the girl receive money for a Halls Defense Vitamin C cough drop.
No kidding.
In an interview 9-year-old Khalin Rivenbark and her father did with a local Florida TV station the girl says she had been experiencing cold symptoms so like a good parent her dad put a bag of Halls Defense Vitamin C cough drops into her backpack.
Khalin says when she got to school one of her classmates asked for a cough drop and she obliged. But, Khalin says later her friend insisted on paying her for the drops.
“She felt guilty taking the cough drop or whatever, so she gave me a dollar,” the fourth grader told reporters. “I didn’t want to accept it, but she had me take it.”
Enter Khalin’s teacher who apparently saw the transaction take place.
“My teacher saw me with the cough drops out and I guess she saw me give it to one of my friends, and then like, ‘Oh, I see this good business going on around you,'” Khalin said. “She said, ‘You’re selling drugs.’ (I said) ‘No I’m not.'”
Now Khalin and her classmate are facing possible punishment over the alleged “drug transaction.”
As for how Khalin’s dad is handling the situation:
“It’s absolutely crazy,” Andy Rivenbark told reporters.
The girl’s father also noted that he didn’t get so much as a phone call from school administrators about the incident. Now, he says he is ticked and wants answers.
“It’s definitely detrimental to somebody who we teach the whole time growing up, ‘don’t use drugs because drugs are bad.’ To accuse her, it’s unnecessary to make a comment like that,” Rivenbark said.
According to the student handbook for the school district: “If a student must take a prescription or over-the-counter medication during school hours, it must be received and stored in the original container, and be labeled with the student’s name, current date, prescription dosage, frequency of administration and physician’s name.”
However, when the local TV station that interviewed the Rivenbark’s took the Vitamin C drops to a pharmacist to see if they qualified as an over-the-counter drug, the expert reported that the ingredients in the Halls drops were almost identical to what’s found in a Lifesavers candy. Meaning it did not contain any menthol, an active ingredient found in some cough drops.
I realize that in general teachers are overworked and underpaid, but this case certainly does nothing to help their cause.
What would you do if your child was dubbed a “drug dealer” for handing out Vitamin C drops?
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