3/8/2012 - Awareness: Bullying & Drugs
By Tim Cameron, Headmaster
Bullying. Everyone from Lady Gaga to President Obama is talking about it. You can’t pick up a newspaper or magazine and not see something about bullying and harassment in U.S. schools. And as a Christian school, the topic is near the top of our priority list.
In 2012—2013, Metro is going to dive head first into Rachel’s Challenge with our entire school on board. We are so excited! Look up the website http://www.rachelschallenge.org/; you will sense the anointing of this program. It is an initiative meant to equip and empower every student to create a permanent positive culture change in their school and community by starting a chain reaction of kindness and compassion. The program is having a real impact nationwide. We are already using the program in the elementary school on a limited basis this year. Next year, we will start with all of our teacher and student leaders receiving specific training from Rachel’s Challenge personnel. We will have assemblies and community events to kick off the year. Our commitment to do this has been two years in the making and we are saturating the project in prayer.
We repeatedly challenge our students at Metro about what the scriptures teach concerning bullying and harassment. Some of these specific scriptures are:
• Romans 12:10, "Love one another with affection, out do one another in showing honor.”
• I Peter 3:8, "First of all live in peace with one another being kind, compassionate and humble.”
The question about bullying is, "What should be our individual response as a Christian?” At this point, it gets really personal. Kindness and compassion, what wonderful objectives.
Another topic of concern I have received questions on recently is our drug testing program at Metro. The drug testing program at Metro is a random testing program that is administered in grades 9-12. Metro’s drug and alcohol policies are on edline in the handbook section. Our patron body, students, and staff are unanimous in their support of a drug and alcohol free environment at and away from school for our students.
Metro is a very close knit community of believers in Christ. As a result, situations that impact our community come to light very quickly. When any student makes a decision that separates him/her from our community, it is very painful for the parents, other parents, our students…everyone. It is heart-breaking.
Our assurance to you about our drug testing program is the following:
• Situations are handled in accordance with school policy; when incidents come to light, they are administered in an expeditious fashion with absolute confidentiality.
• All students are treated the same.
• The best interest of the individual students and the student body are of utmost importance.
• Our drug testing program is 100% random testing. It is administered off site at a drug testing lab we have chosen.
• Every student is randomly tested once during the year; each student’s name then goes into a second random testing pool. Some students are tested twice in the course of a school year.
Tackling issues such as drug testing and harassment require honesty, commitment, and courage. Making our school climate encouraging and vibrant with the life of the Lord is a daunting task, but one that all of us want and are striving to achieve. I encourage you to pray and seek the Lord with us as we feed our students a diet of strong academics and the Word. The Lord is good and He has exciting purposes in store for each and every student.
"He is always enough.”
Tim Cameron, Headmaster
