In response to evidence of a little underage drinking, school officials in Belmont, MA, follow the "time-honored traditions" (according to Wizbang) of handling the situation in the worst possible way.
According to the Boston Herald article:
Belmont Superintendent Dr. Peter Holland said the trouble began when chaperones noticed 10-15 out of the 450 students at the dance acting "in an impaired state.'' Some students were vomiting and at least one teen passed out in mid-conversation, Holland said.
Sounds bad, but the response (as summarized by Wizbang) was worse:
(1) Overreact. They shut down the dance and called for ambulances. 14 ambulances. After fighting over the 6 drunken teenagers who could plausibly be taken to the hospital for intoxication, the other eight went back to their station.(2) Give the offenders a slap on the wrist. Monday morning, Belmont school officials gave twelve of the now-sober louts their punishment. For showing up at the dance intoxicated, in violation of several state laws, they decided to send a strong message. All the miscreants were given a one-day suspension.
(3) Punish all the other students as well, so the offenders don't feel picked on. School officials over in Westwood decided they would learn a lesson from Belmont's problem. From now on, all students attending dances in Westwood will have to blow into breathalyzers ($300-$500 each).
Is it just me, or doesn't it seem like (a) isolating the offenders & calling the cops, (b) calling all their parents to come them after getting a BAC reading, and (c) kicking all the offenders out of school for at least a week would be the more rational response? It's outrageous that any student will have to blow into a breathalyzer to enter a dance from now on. I also have to disagree with the commenter on Wizbang's site who says this is related to NCLB; wouldn't calling 14 ambulances be making this seem like more trouble for the school than it is, not less?
Oh, and let's talk margin of errors on breathalyzers; this site puts it at 50%. Where does this school intend to set the BAC bar? Will students have to blow a perfect zero score to be admitted? I would assume they would set the bar that low, since drinking is illegal for those under 21, but what does that mean with such a large margin of error? Breathalyzers most definitely are NOT perfect measures of blood alcohol content, which is why those drivers pulled over who blow high numbers on the BAC are almost always given blood tests as well.
If the school was worried about lawsuits now, just wait until they bar some lawyer's daughter from her senior prom for blowing a .02 on a breathalyzer. Now THAT will be a fun lawsuit to watch.
Posted by kswygert at March 25, 2005 03:08 PM