Suspended over sugar! 'Happy Crack' gets kids kicked out of school
DORCHESTER COUNTY, SC (KTRK) -- A group of elementary school students were suspended for passing 'happy crack,' a Kool-Aid and sugar mixture.
Happy crack isn't dangerous, but at Eagles Nest Elementary School in Dorchester County, South Carolina, students caught with anything that even resembling drugs violates school policy.
The school suspended nine students, all of whom are around 10 years old. The school told parents the children violated school policy, which states, "No student will market or distribute any substance which is substantially similar in color, size or shape to any controlled substance. Further, any substance that simply looks like an illegal substance will be treated as one."
One woman's 10-year-old son, who is an honors student, was suspended for buying 'happy crack' from a friend. The mom said she didn't even know what 'happy crack' was until school officials called her.
"I didn't even know what happy crack was, so the way she called me, I thought my son died. She said, 'There's this epidemic going on at school,' and I'm like 'Oh my gosh, what's going on? Happy crack, what is that?' So, I goggled it," said the mom, who did not want to be identified.
"I'm like, Kool-Aid and sugar, are you serious? I was appalled. I was floored. I really thought it was a joke, I didn't think it would go to this extent, that kids would get put out of school for Kool-Aid and sugar," she adds.
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The mom called the punishment ridiculous and claims the mixture is similar to her son buying a pixie stick.
However, the school district's student handbook lists anything that resembles an illegal substance as a level-three offense, which carries severe consequences.
The mom claims her son didn't even know he broke the rules.
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"So I asked him, 'Did you know you were doing something wrong?' He said 'No, mommy. I know now I did something wrong'. I said at the time, 'Did you know you were making a decision that you shouldn't have made?' I said, 'What did you think you were purchasing?' He said, 'Kool-Aid and sugar.'"
The mom said her son's innocent mistake should not carry such a huge consequence. The mom, along with the parents of the other suspended children, pushed for their children to be given disciplinary hearings. The school district granted hearings for all the children and reduced their punishment to a simple infraction, meaning the students were given probation.
The school has not said how it will handle cases of the powder in the future.
