

By Heather Callaghan



And the parent’s response is priceless!

What would you do if your child came home with this homework assignment?

That is what Onika Nugent was trying to figure out after seeing this homework assignment from her 8th grade son, given in a health class at Mapleton Jr. High in Utah.

Sure, the dangers of prescription drugs, and especially over-the-counter, which make one drop their guard, are vastly under-reported. FDA-approved drugs kill a conservative estimate of 100,000 Americans each year. In 2009, the deaths from prescription drugs actually surpassed traffic deaths.

When all else fails, it is a personal decision to seek a prescription or OTC for help. But is that not a decision one makes with one’s own conscience and in the confidence of a personal health care practitioner? Should that doorway include the school system?

Chances are, it would be mortifying to think of someone going through your medicine cabinet… Obviously, it is incredibly personal! Because the presence of them indicates all your personal health problems and even your habits – rash cream, eczema cream, Imodium for diarrhea, Gas-X, stool softeners…this could go on forever. Pain is a personal problem too.

But I’m not on any medications – why should I care about this? Look at the last column’s question – Is it FDA approved? Can you think of things that people take that are not FDA approved? That’s right – supplements.

“This is like a policeman searching your house without a warrant,” wrote Onika. Lest one think that that concern is an overreaction, please revisit the intent of the assignment – to combat prescription drug and OTC ABUSE. Her actual response written on the homework assignment is below.





Hundreds of comments from parents are pouring in over the post, eliciting similar responses about privacy concerns. One imagines a teacher giggling over daddy’s Viagra. Another brings up HIPAA violations. Another notices that there is no signature line, implicating that students are to complete the inventory with or without the parent present.

It’s hardly fair for a system that remains intertwined with the healthcare system to ask people to report their personal home items. And it’s hardly fair to place the burden of prescription abuse onto the shoulders of a 13- or 14-year-old, making him responsible for preventing it and throwing unused items out – items that the parents bought, as I don’t know many school-age teens who do all the shopping, book appointments and drive to the pharmacy. The responsibility for safety was to rest with the FDA we pay big bucks to in order to prevent death – and it wouldn’t hurt if they’d pay attention to the chemical dependency Big Pharma causes – I’ll give you a moment for a hearty laugh.

Here is what Onika ended up writing in response:

Dear Ms. _,

Although it may be a good idea for parents to do an inventory of their

medicine cabinet, I believe it is inappropriate for students to counsel

their parents or report to the school what that inventory is. It is a

complete invasion of privacy. It’s like sending a police officer to search a house without a warrant. _ will not be filling out the chart for

this assignment.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Nugent

This video sheds a little more light on the situation for those wondering if this was a part of the curriculum or a data grab:



