The stunning death of Dylan Hill last weekend is, of course, an absolute tragedy.
Four days after the 16-year-old Gloucester High School sophomore's body was found lying on Flats Beach off Rocky Neck and Eastern Point Road, the pain seems greater than ever. And in that vein, our hearts and condolences go out to his family, his many, many friends, the entire Gloucester High School community, and all of those throughout the community at-large who are sharing in the grief.
For the loss of someone so young is compounded by the fact that Dylan's death seems so preventable and so senseless — largely pegged to a simple tragic decision to ingest hallucinogenic mushrooms and smoke marijuana with friends at his house last Saturday night, according to Gloucester police.
There is no one to blame, no one persona who can be held accountable for this tragedy. And it was telling to hear Interim Police Chief Michael Lane say Tuesday that — while hallucinogenic mushrooms are illegal, and smoking pot, though now just a minimal civil offense, is far from OK, especially for teens — there are no charges pending, and he doesn't expect any to be filed.
This is, indeed, not about finding fault.
It must, however, become a wakeup call for all local teenagers, teachers, other adults and especially parents. And it's those parents who must look in the mirror, think deeply about how well they know their teens and pre-teens, think about what they know of where they are and what they're doing — then consider what Dylan's family is now facing, and recognize that perhaps, "there but for the grace of God go I."
Gloucester Police and other organizations — most notably the Healthy Gloucester Collaborative, which crosses boundaries among the police, city schools, the Health Department, and even local package stores, pharmacies and other businesses — have done a lot of work toward fighting the drug war on Gloucester's streets, and in its many nooks and crannies.
And that's especially the case for the Health Department's Joan Whitney, which has clearly made strides along with the GHS Students Against Destructive Decisions group, driving home the message to students that drugs are not cool.
Yet, a seemingly popular sophomore still found his way into hallucinogenic mushrooms. And it's hard to imagine a more chilling, truly destructive decision than the one young Dylan sadly made last Saturday night.
Let's be frank: Kids are going to drink and do drugs. That's the harsh reality that all of us have confronted at one time or another over the years. And Dylan's death is hardly the first even in the last year to drive home the tragic losses that drugs and alcohol can bring.
Just last July, we saw the death of a 22-year-old West Gloucester man of an apparent heroin overdose — and the charging of three local women with distribution of heroin in a police sting that followed the discovery of his body.
But police and our schools cannot tackle this problem alone. For every neighborhood in which residents stand outside and applaud police for hauling out purported drug dealers — a scene that reportedly played out on Myrtle Square a little over a year ago — there are no doubt many parents who feel their children are "good kids" who cannot possibly fall into this trap. There are scores of young people who think that what happened to Dylan cannot possibly happen to them.
They're wrong. By all counts, the story of Dylan Hill drives home the cold, hard point that good kids can and do fall into the drug trap, and that bad things — tragic things — can and do happen to good kids, too.
So, as Dylan's family wrestles with its loss — as Dylan's classmates grapple with this harshest of lessons — let's hope parents across the city talk more openly with their teens and pre-teens about drugs — and the absolute devastation they can cause.
Let's hope that the community forum planned by Mayor Carolyn Kirk at Cruiseport Gloucester a week from tonight draws the interest and participation it deserves. And let's hope that, above all else, Dylan Hill's death spurs parents to get more involved in their teenagers' lives.
For his family and friends, there will never be another Dylan Hill.
But as we, as a community, all mourn his loss, let's also fight to ensure there will never be another Dylan Hill tragedy, either.
