9-Year-Old Accused of Dealing Cough Drop Drugs

by Sandy Maple (Subscribe to Sandy Maple's posts)
Dec 18th 2008 5:00PM

Filed under: In The News

Ask a nine-year-old what drugs are and you are likely to hear things like cigarettes, marijuana, even alcohol. But I think you would be hard-pressed to find a kid - or an adult - who would categorize Vitamin C as a drug. Unless you were Khalin Rivenbark's fourth-grade teacher. The Clay County, Florida teacher has accused the Khalin of not only possessing the Vitamin C drug, but selling it as well.

Khalin had been fighting a cold, so her father put a bag of Halls Defense Vitamin C cough drops in her backpack. When two of Khalin's classmates asked for one of those cough drops at school, she says she handed them over. But her friend insisted on paying her for the drops. "She felt guilty taking the cough drop or whatever, so she gave me a dollar. I didn't want to accept it, but she had me take it," Khalin said.

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That's when things turned ugly. Khalin says her teacher witnessed the transaction and came down hard. "She 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.'" Khalin and her classmates are now facing possible punishment over the incident.The Clay County Schools handbook addresses the issue of kids taking of prescription and over-the-counter medications at school: "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."

So, the question here is whether or not Halls Defense Vitamin C cough drops are considered an over-the-counter drug. According to a local news reporter, the ingredients in the cough drops are almost identical to those in a Lifesaver candy and do not include menthol. This would seem to indicate, at least to me, that Khalin did nothing wrong and is being unfairly accused of being a drug dealer.

I appreciate the fact that school teachers must make judgment calls on a regular basis. But in this case, it sounds like the teacher rushed in making her judgment.

ReaderComments (Page 4 of 12)

Add Your Comments

12-18-2008 @ 9:23PM

WickedSlumber09 said...

how dumb can someone be? i used to take vitamin c drops and cough drops to school with me all the time when i was younger. its not a drug and anyone who thinks it is, is obviously a complete idiot.

12-19-2008 @ 10:30AM

pd39 said...

These kids need to be made and example of. They should get life at hard labor with no chance for parole. The drug epidemic in this country has got to be stopped, and the sooner we start, the better. The teacher, the principle, and the school board should ALL be awarded Nobel prizes for their fight against the scourge of drugs.

12-20-2008 @ 6:05PM

SFC T said...

Good point. However, in this case, you would be better out in the sand box pounding sand up your butt and thinking about what you said. Merry Christmas.

12-21-2008 @ 12:02PM

SFC T said: Good point. However, in this case, you would be better out in the sand box pounding sand up your butt and thinking about what you said. Merry Christmas.

SFC T, Guess my tongue wasn't firmly enough in cheek. I'm 64 yo, DAV, USMC 65-69, 2 tours in NAM. Tried USMC, Army, Navy, and NG. Told them I could man a desk and release another for sand box action, but they refused me. Actually told me I'd done enough. I told them, "More than some, less than others, I can always do more." They still said no dice. O well! Instead, I send boxes and letters. Not much, I know, but still more support that we got in my time. Merry Christmas to you and yours too, and a Joyus New Year.

12-18-2008 @ 9:39PM

Eileen said...

Not only is the teacher overstepping his/her bounds, a public outcry needs to be raised in that town concerning whether the teacher needs to continue employment in that particular classroom, school, district, and yes, even in that particular state.

I have a much better solution, suspend the teacher without pay for a solid year after the kids cough in the face of said teacher and withhold any and all medications from said teacher.

12-18-2008 @ 9:37PM

NORMA said...

Good thing that I don't have any kids in school these days as I probaly would be in jail.

Tish said...

I am a houseparent for a facility for kids. It is a rule that we are not allowed to give cough drops out because it is considerd a drug!

penny said...

I expected the comments to be : Stupid teacher, how could she do this? Private school for my kids, this is why I home school.
Well thanks for not disappointing. Do any of you work in the school system or just whine about it? Do any of you work with kids at all? I did and I have to tell you I left the profession because of parents like you. The kids CANT bring any kind of "medicine" to school without a Dr's note period! It is the LAW and you should follow it and not push your kids to ignore it. And the reason we have these laws is because of parents like you. You stand around and yell about kids "dosing" and giving kids cough drops and want laws and rules but when your kids is the one that needs cough drops and Emergen C you want to be above that law you helped create. This is put into place because we all want to point fingers when something goes wrong and blame, blame, blame and so this is the repercussion of those laws and rules. Sorry if i sound rude but again I left a profession I loved because I was tired of parents screaming and stomping when they didn't get their way.

12-18-2008 @ 9:55PM

teach said...

THANK YOU! That is so true!

12-18-2008 @ 9:43PM

Dorothy said...

It appears to me that with all of the important things going on in our world is not enough for some. This teacher needs to use common sense and not bring children trouble for a cough drop. What nonsense.

12-18-2008 @ 9:47PM

lilies15 said...

I blame the teacher not the public schools. I go 2 a public school and we always have cough drops. Even the teachers have them. I do not believe cough drops r a drug. This is plain stupid. Somebody defiantly needs 2 get bitched slapped 4 sure, not the poor little girl.

12-18-2008 @ 9:52PM

michelle said...

teachers who are this stupid need to be fired as they are obviously not bright enough to even be near our children!!!!
my son found a knife in the bathroom at our middle school and took it to the office and was rewarded good thing he didnt get caught when he carried it in his pocket to the office!
as far as peanut butter, pack 6 peanut butter sandwiches!!! your daughter has every right to eat what she wants at school, if taken away -sue the school for abuse and neglect for refusing your child food.
if a child is so allergic to be in school which i am sure the lunch room serves they need to stay home.
teachers principal and superintendents office refuse to offer help for my son who has a learning disability. i just received an email saying he is 3 weeks behind in assignments. he also received 3 incomplete grades on his last report card. I am going next to???where??? an attorney/??? i dont know what to do here!!! they only offer help for him before school for 20 ninutes and the rest of the day in all classes he is lost.

Gbthrone said...

And now to comment on the brilliance of school district/county education staff. WHAT OTC DRUG IS GOING TO HAVE A PRESCRIBING PHYSICIAN'S NAME ON IT? The whole problem is not a stupid teacher. It is a stupidly drafted regulation, that leaves absolutely no wiggle room for anyone. The real problem is that regulations such as this are treating small children as if they were fully functioning adults. Of course, the schools administration has the "Zero-Tolerance" box checked off, so no thought is required on their part.

12-18-2008 @ 9:54PM

Diana Hillock said...

The reasonable resolution would have been to confiscate the "Drugs" Call the respective parents and reconfirm with them that the school policy is no OTC medication is to brought to school. Then thank them in advance for their cooperation.

12-18-2008 @ 10:05PM

nic said...

that's what zero tolerance gets you. zero common sense. and just remember - majority of you asked for this nanny state of america

12-18-2008 @ 10:01PM

Marla said...

I think this teacher needs to get a life and another job!! Maybe the teacher would rather sit and hear a group of 4th graders cough all day instead. People like this should not be teaching our little ones.

sara said...

aren't cough drops just supplements? i was sure there was no real medication in them. not all teachers are that stupid.

12-18-2008 @ 10:06PM

Joe said...

It's all about control. Someone with a dissatisfying job just
has to use the stupid system to make themselves feel
important

12-19-2008 @ 5:35PM

RowdyBoots11 said...

Dear Students and Parents,

This is the reason we need to have School Choice or Homeschooling.

This Teacher has ZERO COMMON SENSE. We are paying them to teach--they are teaching IDIOCY.

WELCOME TO THE IDIOCRACY

ROWDY BOOTS

READ A BOOK TO A TEACHER

12-18-2008 @ 10:13PM

Edric said...

So i guess selling an orange is also like selling drugs? Oranges are loaded with vitamins. Especially the feared Vitamin C.

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