Camden Milirary Academy Lost my only child to drugs at Camden Military Academy camden, South Carolina
I have one child, a wonderful boy. Any parent would have been proud of him. He was a bilingual child. He played viloin, lacrosse, he had so much promise for a bright future. He wanted to serve his country someday, and joined the Civil Air Patrol. He was kind hearted always wanting to help others. As a single mother, I thought it would be a good idea to send him to Camden Military Academy. To prepare him for desire to serve his country. I should have seen the warnings signs that things were not at I preceived them to be at Camden. I remember taking my son and a friend back to school after the Thanksgiving holiday, his freind started panicking on the drive back and begged me not to leave him at the school. He kepted saying, please don't leave me there, please don't leave me there my parents don't believe me about how bad it is at Camden. I called his parent's and agreed to leave him at Camden. After I dropped off both boys I had a terrible feeling inside, I spoke with the school and they assured me it was normal for young men to feel this way. My son was home from Camden and disappeared once, but he left his cell phone behind. I started calling numbers on his contact list, trying to locate him. I spoke with one father of another student at Camden who was heartbroken and had lost his son to drug addiction at Camden, and sent him to a wilderness camp/drug rehab. He strongly suggested I get my son tetsted as the school to his knowledge was infested with drugs. I took my son for his annual physical and found out that his blood was saturated with drugs. My son did tell me that weed is so easily available at the school. The cadets there get high regularly, on weed, cold medicine, whatever. I have sent my son to rehab, and nothing has worked. My son had so much promise, and now his life is surrounded by heartache and addiction, friends in prison, one died recently. Of course, there are drugs in schools, but when you send a child to a private boarding school, you expect that there is supervision. My son was smoking weed at Camden everyday with other cadets, and nobody at the school noticed or contacted me until it was to late, they waited until he was a senior about to graduate to tell me, so he never even got to graduate. They made there money at the cost of my son's life and future. Please don't send your son to Camden, you just might loose hime forever to drugs. I am in pain everyday over having sent my son to Camden Military Academy.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
zb420
91405,California,
United States of America
TO THE HEADMASTER
#4Consumer Comment
Thu, July 28, 2011
To think your school is any different from a public school drug wise is just putting blinders on.
I know what I talk about, I am a Social Worker and am Certified by The State of Ca. as a substance abuse counselor.
Yes, here in Ca. Marijuana is legal with a doctor's note, BUT, not ever to minors.
If this is happening at your school, ( and I guarantee it is), then you better start drug testing on a regular basis and see for yourself first hand what's happening. BTW, Marijuana will stay in a system for at least 30 days.
Parents are spending hard earned money to enroll in your school and probably sacrificing for this also, the least you can do is provide a safe environment.
The words you wrote were just that, WORDS, NOW PUT THEM TO ACTION!
There is NO EXCUSE FOR THIS....
Headmaster
camden,South Carolina,
United States of America
OFFICIAL CAMDEN RESPONSE
#4REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, July 28, 2011
This is Camden Military Academys official response to these anonymous postings. Camden takes any and all reports of crime or misconduct very seriously and investigates them thoroughly. You may read more about our program at our website, www.camdenmilitary.com.
First, Camden Military Academy welcomes all religions. Currently, we have Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhists, and Jewish students enrolled at the academy who will gladly address any concerns regarding spirituality. All cadets are treated with respect and allowed to practice the religion of his choice.
The academy has a strict policy regarding hazing. According to the Parent Handbook, There is no tradition of hazing at Camden Military Academy and we do not allow or sanction any students hitting, shoving, punching, or in any way physically, mentally, or emotionally mistreating another cadetthe result of hazing is dismissal from the academy.
Furthermore, Camden Military Academy does not tolerate drug use or possession, including over the counter medications, vitamins or dietary supplements. The Cadet Handbook states that the use or possession of illegal drugs will result in dismissal from the academy.
Per the Parent Handbook, the academy reserves the right to administer a drug test to any student. According to the policy, if a cadet tests positive, the cadet is immediately dismissed from the academy. Furthermore any student with drugs in his possession faces the possibility of arrest.
Camden takes drug use/experimentation very seriously. Unfortunately, we acknowledge that the academy is not perfect and young men are dismissed every year for testing positive for drugs. However, due to the academys structured environment and stringent policies, drug use among our cadets is extremely limited and lower than national norms.
A copy of the Parent Handbook is available at: http://camdenmilitary.com/student_parent_resources/. For more information, please contact Camden Military Academy directly at 800-948-6291 or 803-432-6001.
Ken
Greeley,Colorado,
USA
The School is responsible?...
#4Consumer Suggestion
Thu, July 14, 2011
Sorry about your son's drug use, but it won't help to blame it on others.
It's his decision and not much can be done to cure him until HE is ready.
Kids get hooked on drugs at public and private schools every day.
I hope things work out and you can get past this....good luck.