Yearbook photos show students doing drugs

Yearbook photos show students doing drugs
Parents outraged at images of smoking pot, using paraphernalia

JEFFERSON COUNTY - There are a number of things Karen Marshall does not like about her daughter's Conifer High School yearbook. Three pages in particular; pages 13, 33 and 71.

"On page 13, they have students smoking pot and using drug paraphernalia," she said. "I just don't want to see any more people get hurt or die and this book is actually helping towards the delinquency of minors."

It was just over a week ago that two Conifer students died when their Jeep rolled off the road.
The Colorado State Patrol believes drugs may have played a role in that crash.

Monday, the yearbook advisor, Amy McTague released a statement apologizing to the students, staff and community for the controversial images and quotes.

She says she discussed the photos at length with her editor and they agreed that some of the elements are completely inappropriate. She goes on to say "these issues detract from the many wonderful things that are included in the book."

Photos on three pages of the book show teens smoking marijuana, drinking and proudly displaying their minor in possession citations.

"There are some things in the yearbook I don't feel like I can defend," Conifer High Principal Pat Termin said, adding some parts of the book crossed the line.

"We didn't do the right thing in some of the activities we portrayed," she said. "I'm certainly not oblivious to messages here that we have this section in the yearbook that some students believe it was important for them to illuminate. I think it's an issue the community needs to examine."

"I don't think it's that big of a deal," said freshman Drew Daughtry. "There are drugs wherever you go. They were just trying to show what really happens with students. It's part of their life."

Marshall says that might be, but as a parent, she wants positive activities highlighted, not the other way around.

"This book represents everyone, not just the drug addicts at Conifer High School," she said.

The school says it will refund the parents who want to return the book and fix the captions on the books the families want to keep.

According to school administrators, it's too early to say if McTague will be disciplined. They say she has a great record with the school and has produced at least six amazing yearbooks.