Teen says Cobb school officials forced her to admit using drugs she never took
A 14-year-old girl says administrators at her Cobb County high school pressured her to say she had been using drugs at school and then suspended her.
Her family’s attorney says a drug test showed she had no illegal substances in her body.
The teenager, identified only as Samai by Channel 2 Action News, is a freshman at Campbell High School in Smyrna. She said another student found her slouched over in a school bathroom Sept. 5 and told a teacher.
Samai told Channel 2 she just wasn’t feeling well. She said school administrators and a police officer questioned her after the incident.
“Two administrators and a cop kept telling me: ‘You did it. Just admit you took drugs,’” she said.
Eventually, she gave in. Samai told Channel 2 the pressure drove her to tell administrators she took drugs.
Her family’s attorney, Doug Rohan, said she was questioned without her parents in the room.
“They were just questioning her so intensely,” he told Channel 2. “An adult would buckle under the same pressure.”
A Cobb County school district incident report said: “Samai was under the influence of an illegal substance. EMT and an ambulance were called because she was unconscious lying down on the girls restroom floor.”
Samai was suspended from the school for 10 days.
Rohan said a drug test taken two hours after the incident produced negative results. He said the test proves Samai’s suspension should be overturned. He’s asking school officials to rescind the suspension.
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About the Author
Asia Simone Burns is a watchdog reporter for the AJC. Burns was formerly an intern in AJC’s newsroom and now writes about crime. She is a graduate of Samford University and has previously reported for NPR and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR member station.
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