Chris Cline might be evidence that we're pushing our children too hard to do too much too soon.

Chris, 18, was an honor roll student and standout soccer player at Park Hill High School. Last fall, though, he was caught abusing Adderall, a prescription medication used to treat ADD and ADHD.

Adderal is a schedule I controlled substance in Missouri, and falls under the school district's zero tolerance policy for drugs.

Chris, who did not had a prescription for Adderall, told me he took the drug in order to help him stay focused for things like the ACT exam.

Between advanced placement classes and his soccer schedule, there weren't enough hours in the day to get eight hours of sleep, Chris said.

Rather than be expelled, Chris Cline opted to drop out of Park Hill High School and finish his senior year at the University of Missouri's online high school.

My story about Chris and the growing problem of high school students abusing prescription drugs to improve academic achievement will appear in the Feb. 11 edition of the Sun Tribune.

Chris' father, Ron Cline, made a statement about his case to the Board of Education in December.

With Ron's permission, I've decided to run his statement in its entirety here. It's long, but worth the read, I think:

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Ron Cline, a parent of a former Park Hill student and current citizen of the Park Hill District. Thank you for allowing me to approach you tonight about a subject that has come up recently. I will ask your forgiveness in advance for reading this from a script and apologize if I go over the time limit by a little."

"It is simply too emotional for me to discuss off the cuff."

"I have lived in the Park Hill School District for 19 years with my wife Nancy.

We have two sons who have had the privilege to attend Park Hill Schools. Our youngest is the subject of my appearance this evening. "

"Chris is the typical second child. Perhaps a bit brighter and easy to get bored without constant challenge. Always looking for attention, even if it is negative. Chris gets good grades and is loved by most of his teachers. But his push for attention often got him into trouble. Nothing serious. But, where his older brother's discipline file was secured with a paper clip, Chris' was secured by a binder clip. Chris is a good kid, from a good Christian background and I'd like to believe a good and caring family, eager to support him in all ways. He has noticeably matured in the last year and I think you will find no pages in his discipline file for this last year until recently."

"It came to our attention, quite by surprise, that the Park Hill School District has several of its children involved in the use of drugs intended for use by those with Attention Deficit Disorders, or ADD, for short. These drug names are Adderall and Vyvanse, both newer versions of the more popular Ritalin, prescribed for years to our kids."

"Chris doesn't have a prescription for one of these medicines. But he bought into the idea being passed around the halls of Park Hill High School and other suburban schools that these drugs work well to provide focus and attention for homework and testing."

"I understand that he and many others thought it would be ok to use. And it was readily available by those who had the prescriptions. Asking around, I was surprised to find that none of them think it is a big deal. After all, it isn't a social drug...it is a drug for doing better in school."

"On October 27, our son was questioned by the school principal about his involvement in this activity. After receiving a promise of leniency, Chris told the truth and admitted that he was involved. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but it was so common he couldn't understand why there wasn't a line of students in the office that day. He was given a 10 day suspension in return for his truthful admission."

"Chris' rights to due process were violated many times on this day. We could have had a team of lawyers in here in a heartbeat, along with the media, to create a circus no one would want. Instead, as a family, we elected to do the right thing and take the punishment, eager to get Chris back into school and perhaps back on his championship soccer team."

"But our nightmare was only beginning. The next day, it was determined that Chris' admission should be referred to the Sheriff and the Prosecuting Attorney for criminal review. That day, we discovered this "no big deal" was, in fact, a VERY big deal. Having possession of this drug without a prescription is a Class A Felony and comes with a minimum 10 year prison sentence in the real world."

"The Prosecutor reviewed the situation and elected to not pursue it. He asked that Chris take part in a diversion program, involving community service hours. Chris was never arrested or convicted of any crime whatsoever."

"The school district was not so lenient. As our nightmare continued, we learned that Park Hill administrators had a plan to recommend expulsion to the Superintendent. We were advised that this would be surely approved without further review and would come before the Board."

"For those of you who don't know, Park Hill's policy is zero-tolerance and does not allow for appeals until after an expulsion is complete. We were advised by three different attorneys that Chris' only option was to withdraw from school if he wanted to continue his education and move on to college without this on his record. We simply could not take the chance that an appeal would overrule and, sadly, we were forced to do just that on November 9, 2009."

"Ladies and gentlemen, some of you know Chris. You know that he is not a drug dealer. He is a typical teenager, most of whom make bad decisions every day. With some counseling, he will be fine and we support his plans to go to college next year - on schedule and without this hanging over his head."

"I am not here tonight to get sympathy for my son. It is too late for him to return to Park Hill and graduate from the school he loves. Instead, I am here for three reasons."

"First, I want to thank you for allowing my family to be involved at Park Hill for the last 14 years. We have watched the district grow and expand to great heights with profound leadership, developing into one of the best programs in the nation."

"Second, I want to ask that you review your policies and procedures regarding due process in cases such as this. I am not here to blame any administrator. But they are clearly put into a position in which they are not qualified. They are educators, not police. It seems the goal is to force our administrators to catch kids doing wrong instead of teaching them to do right. In the process, I know that many, many kids have now been advised by their parents and other students to stay quiet on this issue, driving the problem deeper and the challenge to fix it that much harder."

"Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, I want to beg of you to provide education for these kids regarding the use of all types of drugs in our schools."

"I asked a Park Hill Resource Officer recently what was being done to teach students that prescription drugs are dangerous and in some cases criminal. His response was "nothing" and he feels that this education should begin at home, not here."

"He is correct to a point. Most parents do teach their kids about drugs and alcohol at home. It is our job to do so. But I can guarantee that few parents know much about the dangers of prescription drugs. Let's face the truth...we all know that parents share prescriptions with good intentions all the time...allergy medicine, antibiotics, acne creams. Many of our kids see us sharing. Why shouldn't they?"

"And what about the parents of those kids who take these drugs for real? Where is the control? Do they not know of the dangers of these drugs?"

"The answer is a resounding NO!"

"I know of one parent that confided that he actually buys extra Adderall for his daughter, so she can hand it out to those in need of more focus. Bottom line folks - parents simply don't know. How many of us here were aware that ADD drugs are on the same criminal offense list as Cocaine?"

"I know that this district is a strong supporter of The Park Hill Community Drug Task Force and I understand that we have an Assistant Superintendent volunteering her time on that force. They meet right here in this building."

"I encourage you to work with them to develop more education for our children on the dangers of prescription medications. The National Institute on Drug Abuse details in a recent survey that 15.4 percent of 12th-graders reported using a prescription drug non-medically within the past year. Simply put, it MUST start here and not at home. You can't hide behind a school handbook with hard to read rules - which don't even match the JG rules on file and was not used in this case - and expect our children to understand the reality of their actions."

"Christopher gets it. And so do all the other kids that were forced out of the district last month. Was it really necessary?"

"What about all the others that are now quietly continuing to take this medication? Do you want to arrest them or help them?"

"I understand that this district stops teaching about drug and alcohol abuse as a regular curriculum item in grade school. By the time our children reach High School, they are expected to be responsible and know that it is a crime to smoke marijuana or drink alcohol. They learn this both at home and at school."

"Why on earth shouldn't our high school kids be reminded here and also taught here that borrowing another person's prescription is wrong, too?"

"I am proud of my son for doing the right thing. I am proud of him for becoming a scholastic, athletic and spiritual leader in your school district. He has made a difference here, despite his mistake. I will continue to be proud of him for the new-found focus he has to help others. He is maturing. But this whole mess has forced him to be an adult perhaps too soon."

"PLEASE...make this a big deal before it hurts another good kid. I felt called to come before you today, although this will not change anything for my family. Maybe it will make a difference to another family."

"I care about this district and the responsible, mature men and women it produces to society. The awards you win seem to indicate that you do too? Each one, every day."

"I have already talked to area churches and ministry groups, who are willing to help out, as well as the folks on the Community Task Force. I hope you agree that something needs to be done. Please ask for help from these organizations or develop something yourselves. Please do something before this gets further out of hand!"

"Thank you for your time this evening and Merry Christmas."