cannabisnews.com: A Teacher Asks, and Asks Again, "What's 420?'





A Teacher Asks, and Asks Again, "What's 420?'
Posted by FoM on June 06, 1999 at 13:14:00 PT
Source: SF Gate
ON APRIL 19, in my last section of ninth-grade public speaking class, which I teach at a private school in Oakland, I heard one student say to another, "420, don't forget."
My ears pricked up. I asked, "What's 420?" I looked from student to student but no one looked up. I waited. One student finally said, "It's nothing, Ms. Flaxman. Don't worry about it." That's when I started to worry. Because I am in only my second year of teaching, teenagers often see me as more of an older sister than a disciplinarian, so I teased, "I'm going to find out you guys, and when I do, watch out!" Still, no one would look me in the eye. After class, I approached some kids I thought might know something and asked again, "What's 420?" One of them told me not to worry. "When an entire class turns bright red and falls silent," I told him, "I worry." He put up his right hand. "I do not know what 420 is." But there was a twinkle in his eye. Kids are sneaky. They have to be; they're not allowed to do most of the things they want to do. I knew there was something to 420, and I wanted to find out what it was. I went home that night and told my fiance what I had overheard. "Do you think it's something they do at 4:20," I asked. He shrugged. "Maybe it's someone's birthday." We both laughed at that; a birthday party seemed too innocent, considering the reaction of my class. I sat at the table chopping vegetables, pondering. What if 420 meant that four people do 20 shots of vodka in four minutes? That a group of kids would gather at 4:20 in the morning to board a bus for Vegas? I tried to think of what else had happened on April 20, but all I came up with was Waco, Texas, and the Oklahoma City bombing, both of which happened earlier in April. I was puzzled. While we ate dinner, and for the rest of the night, I worried about what my students might be getting themselves into the next day. The next morning, I asked again, "What's 420?" I didn't expect an answer, but one student surprised me. "It's the day we smoke the magic flower," she said, and then quickly added, "Not me! I don't do that." I lifted an eyebrow. "Really!" she said. "Who's thinking about doing it?" "No one, really. It's just something to talk about." This sounded like both the truth and the lie to get the teacher off your back. I kept my eyes open all day, but April 20 was an average school day. Nothing unusual of any kind. I looked but did not find any of the typical signs of pot use: no bloodshot eyes, no outbursts of the giggles. At around 2:30, as the school day neared its end, I let out a sigh of relief; 4 / 20 had come and gone without any major disruption. That's when Sabina, a 10th grader in my study hall, ran in with the news of the massacre in Colorado: "Twenty-five students have been shot and the killers are holding the school hostage!" I didn't believe her. I turned on the television in my classroom and caught the tail end of the sheriff's briefing. "It's so scary," Sabina said. I nodded, speechless. I felt confused, off balance. I had been worrying all day about the wrong thing, but how could anyone anticipate this? The following week, I spent my free time reading about the murders, and wondered: Did the boys' parents know about their violent tendencies? Did someone at school miss something? Would I have missed it too? The answer to the last question is, probably, yes. The only reason I was able to ask questions about 420 was that a student slipped and said something in front of me. I caught it, asked an appropriate question, and my students' faces and body language gave them away. But if a student has a secret, and is good at keeping it, then there really isn't much a teacher or parent can do. All the metal detectors in the world cannot detect a troubled child behind a cheerful face. Along with the stories about Columbine came reports of what "420" meant to students across the country before the Columbine shooting. There are 420 different chemicals in pot, and the Los Angeles Police Department uses the number as a code for drug busts. April 20 is the day kids around the country get together to smoke marijuana. So I was right to think that on April 20 some of my students might do something they're not supposed to do. But my fiance was right about April 20 too. That date IS someone's birthday - Adolf Hitler's. But even if I had gotten it right, had learned what 420 really stood for, I wouldn't have been able to stop anything. The only thing I could have done was what I DID do: Talk to my students. I grilled them about 420 when I knew they wouldn't tell me the answer. I grilled them to remind them that someone knew that something was going on, and that someone cared. I hoped that the mere idea that Ms. Flaxman might know or disapprove of something might keep my students out of trouble. In the end, that's all any mentor, parent, teacher or friend can do. Examiner contributor Jessica R. Flaxman, a freelance writer in San Francisco, teaches English at a school in Oakland. 
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 07, 1999 at 15:29:15 PT
It's Slowly Happening!
Thanks Ulysses!I do believe the stigma that surrounds marijuana is slowly crumbling and it's long over due! I will be very happy to see marijuana rescheduled to schedule II because it shouldn't be a schedule I drug and never should have been! If they reschedule, decriminalization should soon follow, I believe!Thanks for your comment!
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Comment #1 posted by Ulysses on June 07, 1999 at 14:52:41 PT:
my response
It is becoming a symbolic day to many people around the country. On April 20 of every year, people of every age gather around with their families and friends to smoke-in.The attitude towards pot is changing for the better. Many people are now realizing the therapeutic potential this plant (cannabis sativa) holds. Thus every April 20, the celebration of marijuana is exhibited throughout the country . Its re-legalization will come soon.
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