Atlanta Warns Parents About Their Kids’ Summer Curfew Violations

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If it’s 11 p.m. on a weekday and you live in the city of Atlanta, you’d better know where your children are. In an effort to keep kids safe over the long, hot summer, Mayor Kasim Reed and other city officials announced Tuesday that they plan to enforce the city’s long ignored curfew law. The curfew law requires children 16 or younger to be at home and supervised by a parent, legal guardian or authorized adult from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from midnight to 6 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. But the big change from previous enforcement threats came in the form of punishment threats  —  for parents. The first violation will result in a warning, city officials announced.

A triple tragedy brings the story of heroin’s suburban rampage home

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It may not be news that heroin abuse has crept into America’s suburbs. TV stations, newspapers and academics have reported the trend over the last few years in metro areas as far-flung Denver, Milwaukee and New York City. But a story this weekend underscores with a dramatic twist how widespread the problem has become: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on three young men who attended the same affluent middle school -- ages 20, 21 and 22 -- each of whom died this winter within a month of each other from apparent heroin overdoses. Heroin has long trailed marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine in popularity locally and nationally. But a 2010 Atlanta drug market analysis published by the U.S. Department of Justice found the highly addictive opiate is becoming more prevalent in suburban areas where it used to be rare.

Kirk’s Journey From Malt Liquor to a Loving Place

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Meet Vernon Kirkland. But you can call him Kirk, everyone else at the Eagle’s Nest Ministry on Edgewood Avenue in downtown Atlanta does. On any given day, say about dark-thirty in the morning, you can find him running around the kitchen, helping to serve dozens of homeless who come by for a hot breakfast. He is, says Larry Arnold, the long-time pastor of Eagle’s Nest, a magical and positive force for the organization’s outreach programs in the area as well as an inspiration to so many who struggle with addiction on the streets of downtown Atlanta. That’s because Kirk hasn’t always been this steady.

Start Strong Innovations — A Photo Gallery

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Eleven Start Strong community projects have been up and running now for nearly two years. At a May 3-4 meeting in Atlanta, members got to share with each other the most innovative and effective programs they’ve come up with to help middle school students learn about healthy relationships and how to avoid potentially violent ones. We wrote about that meeting and the Start Strong national initiative on May 6.  

But here’s a look at six innovative programs, all developed at the local level, that we found particularly interesting.  

Keep It Strong song and dance

“Middle school teens love interaction, as well as entertainment, but they also value learning from older teens,” writes Jacqueline Davis of Start Strong Atlanta.

Part Five: The Big Trouble With Oxy

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Just joining us? This is part five of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Scott Merritt, a certified addictions counselor and licensed therapist in metro Atlanta, estimates that about 40 percent of kids in Cobb County high schools use illegal drugs, including alcohol. Though federal officials say the rates nationwide are lower, Merritt isn’t pulling that 40 percent out of thin air.

Part Five: A Day In Drug Court

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Just joining us? This is part five of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Cobb County, Ga’s., Juvenile Court Judge Juanita Stedman’s office overflows every Wednesday at 4 p.m. For an hour, with therapists and probation officers filling every chair and – with several sitting on the floor – Stedman and her juvenile drug court team do a rundown of every kid currently in the program. One by one, Stedman calls out the name of each of 30 or so kids.

Part Four: Redemption and Temptation

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Just joining us? This is part four of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Kyle is now only a little more than four and a half months clean. His last relapse came during the Thanksgiving break of 2010.

Part Three: A Friend and Reason for Hope

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Just joining us? This is part three of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Kyle Boyer, 15-year-old prescription drug addict, duped his parents once again, faking a stomach ache to stay home from school. But instead of staying in bed, he went out to do what had become his norm – breaking into houses and stealing whatever the medicine cabinets within had to offer.

Part Two: The Sympathetic Judge

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Just joining us? This is part two of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Juvenile Court Judge Juanita Stedman, who presides over Cobb County, Georgia’s Juvenile Drug Court has gotten to know Kyle quite well the past three years. Yes, he was one of the most dangerously addicted kids she’s seen.

Part One: Darkness Visible

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Just joining us? This is part one of a five part series. See the whole series. When Suzanne and John Boyer left their upper-middle class home for work on the morning of May 20, 2008, their 15-year-old son, Kyle, had a stomachache and was still in bed. It wasn’t too bad, he told them.