Middle School Student Staggering in School Hallway... Was Intoxicated by Drugs

Current Teacher's Report
"If It Was Alcohol and Smoking Before, Now It's Gambling and Drugs"

Amid a steady increase in teenage drug offenders recently, a current teacher reported witnessing a middle school student staggering under the influence of drugs on campus.

A Mr. A, a 19-year veteran middle school teacher who requested anonymity, appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 13th and revealed that he recently found out that a student at his school had taken drugs. Mr. A stated that the student’s noticeably staggering behavior at school led him to realize the drug use.

Mr. A explained, "Other students witnessed the student staggering at school," adding, "Rumors spread among the kids that the student came to school after drinking alcohol. However, there was no smell of alcohol on the student at all." At first, Mr. A scolded the students, saying, "Don't spread false rumors," but the next day, the same student was again seen staggering down the hallway like someone intoxicated, witnessed by both students and teachers, prompting Mr. A to counsel the student.

During the counseling, the student said, "I recently took diet pills," and "I got the pills from a stranger through Telegram." The student also mentioned, "I took the purchased pills together with a friend from the next class." The so-called "diet pills" the student took were actually drugs. Mr. A said the student was aware of this, and the local police station visited the school to conduct a focused investigation into the drug purchase routes.

Mr. A said, "Kids never explicitly say 'drugs.' They use slang," and added, "I understand that cheap Chinese synthetic drugs are promoted as diet pills and accessed through social networking service (SNS) direct messages (DMs)." He continued, "The student knew it was a hallucinogenic drug but was afraid of getting in trouble, so insisted it was diet pills until the end."

He also said that after asking his students, he learned that drugs are already "a common thing" among students, and "especially among high school boys, drugs can be easily obtained through Telegram." He expressed concern, saying, "In the past, so-called 'troubled' students were involved in drinking or smoking, but now they might be involved in gambling and drugs."

In particular, Mr. A said, "A kind of community forms around students who have drug experience," and "It is common for the person in charge in each area to be called a neighborhood senior and to have a friendly relationship."

Mr. A emphasized, "Schools rely solely on preventive education," and "Although the time allocated for drug misuse education is increasing, the students who need more actual education are those outside of school." He appealed, "Active and realistic measures are needed outside of school."

Meanwhile, according to recent statistics from the Ministry of Justice, the number of teenage drug offenders last year was 1,477, more than six times the 239 recorded in 2019. The increase in youth drug offenders is partly due to strengthened government crackdowns, but it is also analyzed that easier access to drugs through various SNS platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram has contributed to this rise.