Springfield, Missouri, a Swell Place to Raise a Family!

All my life, my parents have told me Springfield, Missouri, is a virtuous community where it is safe to raise a family. I had my doubts.

My doubts continued to be justified...

From KSPR:

Three kids playing in their Springfield neighborhood found a discarded meth lab. A 12-year-old girl kicked then picked up the plastic bottle before realizing it was used to make drugs.

Yup for years, I have heard how much safer Springfield is compared to a big city.


Police said the bottle was part of the "one pot" method to cook meth. 

Days later, children played near the intersection of Broadway and Nichols, seemingly unaware of the drugs found nearby. Although they looked carefree while they ran and rode bikes, the kids know the dangers of drugs.

"A bit scared, uncomfortable," said 13-year-old Christa Rhoten.

Her 11-year-old friend Lynn Miles agreed.

"It does make me feel like somebody would die around here," she said.

The fear is real for these friends. They saw pictures, videos, and heard stories in school about meth. The Southeast Rotary Club of Springfield puts on the program called "Don't Meth with Us." The club travels to all fifth grade classes in Springfield's public schools to spread the message about meth.

"It showed pictures of people's teeth that they rot from using meth," 10-year-old Sierra Rhoten said wide-eyed. "And there's this girl that was I think 15 and she didn't even do meth for a year and she died."

The girls believed they have smelled the drug cooking on a street where they play.

"Sometimes when people are like messing with meth, it smells like bleach outside. Like really strong scent of bleach," explained Christa. "It just worries me because some kid could accidentally drink it out of the water bottle and just, you know, get really sick."

Her sister Sierra sat next to her and agreed.

"Not just that, if you find one of the bottles that they do meth in, it can explode," Sierra said.

When I lived in Chicago, I was clueless to what meth was until I moved back to Springfield.