Probably The Most Idiotic Case Of "Zero Tolerance" Ever
An honor student comes to the rescue of a friend at a party who's drunk, ends up in violation of the schools asinine "zero tolerance" policy (the article doesn't spell out why -- but the video says it's because there was alcohol being served at the party). The student ends up getting demoted as captain of the volleyball team and suspended from playing for five games.
Bree Sison writes for WBZ-TV:
"If a kid asks for help from a friend, you don't want that kid to say 'I'm sorry I can't help you. I might end up in trouble at school,'" said attorney Wendy Murphy, who is trying to help the Cox family get the school's decision reversed.The Cox family filed a lawsuit in District Court on Friday but a lawyer for the school district argued against any kind of injunction. The judge ruled the court did not have jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, the parents of Erin's teammates have started a petition to support her.
Neither the school district nor its attorney could be reached for comment Sunday, but the Cox family is hoping they'll listen to the host of supporters who've stood behind Erin.
"She didn't do anything wrong. She did what she thought was right, and I'm very proud of her," Erin's mother said.
Love this mom. And this girl absolutely did the right thing.
More parents should raise kids like this.
This is absolutely outrageous. Would the school administrators felt better if the girl drove home drunk instead of calling a friend? Because that's the direction they're pushing in. They've just eliminated the first, most viable solution to the problem of being somewhere too drunk to drive home.
"Oh, well. I can't call a friend because they'll get in trouble. Hmmm...I'm not too drunk. I'm sure I could manage..." (or some other choice famous last words).
And the school rule is stupid, regardless. In this day and age of breathalyzers, the authorities can ascertain with a high degree of reliability who's been drinking. Just being at a place where there's some questionable conduct going on does not criminalize you.
Don't you just love these draconian school policies with that "bill of attainder" flavor about them?
Patrick at October 16, 2013 1:09 AM
If anyone in that school ever gets drunk and kills himself or others while driving home drunk, these school administrators have the blood of all of the dead and injured on their hands. At one time, this zero tolerance foolishness was amusing and innocuous, but it's gotten to the point that lives will be lost because of some of these policies. It's time for everyone who still has common sense to hit back hard against this stuff, every time it happens, mercilessly holding it and its purveyors up to the ridicule it/they deserve.
cpabroker at October 16, 2013 3:44 AM
Disgusting! How do we expect to raise brave, principled, kind-hearted kids when we punish them like this?
The families had better not let this go. What a horrible precedent it would set otherwise. Sadly, I can almost envision my parents counseling me not to "get involved" if I ever got a call like this, even when I was in high school 15 years ago. Yes, they were somewhat overprotective and isolating of my brother and me, though they got a lot of other things right. How much more likely parents would be to give that misguided advice if their child's high school record, i.e. future, were actually at stake! How sad that would be...
Fight back. Raise people, not sheeple!
DS at October 16, 2013 4:50 AM
Once again "Zero Tolerance" has shown zero intelligence.
Charles at October 16, 2013 5:55 AM
Comments at link include the Principal's email address. I just sent her this message:
Your school's behavior in this situation is unconscionable. I'm not sure where you draw the authority to punish a student who was not on school property and innocent of wrongdoing, but the correct response would have been to do nothing. Since you chose to act, you should have lionized this young woman for coming to her friend's aid, instead of mindlessly attempting to ruin her. I recommend that you personally apologize to her.
Disgusting.
DaveG at October 16, 2013 6:15 AM
"Disgusting" also in italics.
DaveG at October 16, 2013 6:15 AM
Both of my girls would have done the same thing this one did, and I'd be standing right beside them, 100% proud of them.
What this girl's school has done is, as DaveG said, unconscionable. And despicable.
Flynne at October 16, 2013 6:30 AM
You will note it was only athletic suspension and not academic.
My son's school would have done the same thing, and has. Show up at a dance with someone that is drunk: you are off the team. Post a pic of yourself on Facebook at a party with alcohol or cigarrettes: off the team.
Playing school sports is considered a privilege and athletes are held to higher academic and other standards. My son had to sign a contract when he went out for wrestling. He lettered all four years. Some kids got bounced from the team for the aforementioned reasons.
LauraGr at October 16, 2013 8:58 AM
LauraGr,
Let me get this straight: Your child would have been kicked off his sports team for attending a party at which other people, who may have been old enough to legally do so, were drinking or smoking, and you were ok with that?
Beth Cartwright at October 16, 2013 9:43 AM
Thank you including my opinion when I purposefully did not.
My son read his athletic contract thoroughly and agreed to abide by it. He also worked his ass off physically and worked super hard to keep his grades up to remain eligible to play.
His choice.
My comment merely stated that the school's response is not uniquely punitive.
LauraGr at October 16, 2013 10:00 AM
Thank you including my opinion when I purposefully did not.
My son read his athletic contract thoroughly and agreed to abide by it.
Your son as a minor can not be held to any contact as by law he is too young to held to that standard which means you had to give your approval, which also means you at least tacitly approved of the policy
lujlp at October 16, 2013 10:45 AM
I read the contract and found it unobjectionable. Want to play on the team? Abide by these rules. Pretty clear. Don't like the standards? Simple enough. Don't play. There are teams outside of school athletics.
Every year there is a promising athlete that gets dropped because they hang out with a bonehead friend and get compromised. That is one of life's less pleasant lessons.
More kids got suspended from the teams for not meeting scholastic standards than for behavior.
Both of those standards are higher than is required to stay in school.
Student athletes in my son's school are held accountable. Staying on the team and representing the school is a privilege.
LauraGr at October 16, 2013 11:10 AM
It might be a lesson that your school wishes to teach, LauraGr, but that's not a life-lesson.
If I happen to go to someone's home merely to pick up a friend who is too drunk to drive, I do not get charged with a crime.
But this school seems to think that it's appropriate to penalize someone merely because she went to a party -- not even for the purpose of socializing -- to pick up a friend in attendance to keep her from driving herself home while intoxicated is guilty of some crime? You seem to think this is a life lesson? Well, no, it's not. Not in the United States.
(Not yet, at least.)
Patrick at October 16, 2013 11:31 AM
Damn straight Patrick.
What I want to know is when the fuck did what you do on your own time become the schools damn business?
Technically LauraGr you son could be dropped from the team if he was at a family reunion and if one of all'y'all's family members were posted in a pic if anyone in the picture is smoking or drinking right?
Hardly seems reasonable.
lujlp at October 16, 2013 12:11 PM
The policy for my son's school is:
If the student athlete finds themselves in a situation where there is illegal drug or alcohol use, they need to leave.
LauraGr at October 16, 2013 1:24 PM
If it's just an athletic suspension, that's not as big a deal, but it still sends the wrong message about what to do in the event that a drunk friend needs a ride home and you volunteer to get them home.
Even though my high school had a "no alcohol/drugs" rule, I'm pretty certain there were several team members who broke it and never got suspended. However, I do know that a cheerleader claimed she was tricked into drinking alcohol and was kicked off the squad.
Fayd at October 16, 2013 2:16 PM
LauraGR -- Excuse me, and I'm (sort of) (well, not really) sorry to be rude, but are you an idiot? She DID leave, with her drunk friend. She didn't attend the party at all. She went to pick up her friend, potentially saving her friend's (and other people's) lives.
If I'm understanding you correctly, according to your interpretation of your school's policy, if the girl were at the party and discovered people were drinking, and then left the party, she'd be fine. But going there solely to pick up her friend and get her home safely, she deserves punishment. And this seems sensible to you.
Wow. Just...wow.
Gail at October 16, 2013 2:25 PM
I am not saying anything about her deserving anything. Basically she was a the party for an unspecified amount of time but not drinking when the cops busted it. Her intention may have been to provide a ride, but she was still at the party. She even knew there was alcohol. She drove there and went in with that knowledge.
At my son's school, she would've gotten the same consequence.
If she had texted her buddy from her car and told her to come out because her ride was there, there may not even have had that.
Our local high school cut like thirty kids from the football team several years ago for a kegger. Not everyone drank but everyone in attendance was cut. Almost all seniors and juniors. Our varsity squad got destroyed for two years. They are serious about this.
LauraGr at October 16, 2013 3:26 PM
Then the administrators of your school are idiots, too. The point of this kind of code is supposed to be about honor, isn't it? To foster good, upright behavior? And that's exactly what this girl displayed. No school is too large to look at individual circumstances instead of blindly administering punishment for what is actually exemplary behavior.
If my child made the opposite decision (i.e., refused to pick up her drunk friend because she feared the school would suspend her from a sports team), I'd be deeply disappointed and would have a serious conversation with her about her values.
This mother should be DAMN proud of her kid. The girl should write her college essays about this decision -- I'll bet it gets her into a good school.
Gail at October 16, 2013 3:36 PM
I should note -- I have a strong personal feeling about this issue. When I was a teenager, one of my best friends was killed driving home drunk from a party. I wish he'd called me for a ride.
Not every teen will call his or her parents in a situation like that. (I would have, but I knew my parents would have tempered their anger that I was drunk with relief that I had the good sense not to drive home that way.) A sober friend is a lot easier to call. Any school that discourages a phone call like this is downright irresponsible.
Gail at October 16, 2013 3:50 PM
Pre-18th amendment there was mostly no legal age to drink or use other drugs. Post-21st most states set it at 18. Now the states are blackmailed into the drug and alcohol laws. So the fed passed an amendment that makes me legally responsible to decide who my federal representatives and president are. I am also allowed to carry an M-16, other fully automatic weapons, or handguns in the military. But because the person is under 21 they are not allowed to possess of carry a concealed handgun off base. They are also not allowed to drink.
So now you are essentially praising your child's school for creating standards that go against normal growing up stuff.
Please tell me you never had a drink before you were 18 (or 21 dependent) on your state's age at the time.
As a paragon of virtue please also tell me that you waited until you were over 18 to have sex?
The point is that your activity outside of school that doesn't effect your school performance should not count. Giving into it means that you are a sheeple.
Jim P. at October 16, 2013 6:10 PM
You all realize this news article was deliberately inflaming, right? And that you got your knickers in a twist because of a handful of missed volleyball games? But there was no scholastic repercussions?
Were there other student athletes busted at the party? Or at similar situations? Did the girl get treated the same? Or should she get special consideration because she is an honor student? The team captain? White? Female? Only planning on staying at the party for a short while?
Maybe more info would be helpful to get a better idea of what really happened.
LauraGr at October 16, 2013 8:25 PM
The lack of denial from the school, plus the other students and parents support, suggest to me the facts, as known, are substantially correct.
Now that the argument of the facts are relatively behind us, the argument of zero tolerance versus stupidity still remain.
So the optimal solution would have been for the drunk student would have been to call her parents. That she did not call her parents is another and absolutely different issue. She called a friend to help her out. The friend, being a responsible young adult, said "Sure." She showed up and the police, illegally, gained her identity and realized her reason for being there was to rescue her friend.
So, because the school somehow became aware of her involvement, the school then passed sanctions on her regardless of the LEO consideration. If she had been charged with something by LEO it might make some sense.
This is the same idea that me being a geek and I didn't hang out with the jock that his party got busted next door that the cops asked my name I was sanctioned because my neighbor held a party.
Jim P. at October 16, 2013 8:48 PM
The policy for my son's school is:
If the student athlete finds themselves in a situation where there is illegal drug or alcohol use, they need to leave.
So what is he supposed to do in the event that he is eating dinner in your home and you decide you want a glass of wine with your dinner?
What if he is at a restaurant and someone on the other side of the establishment orders a Long Island Iced Tea?
This is the problem with such generally worded zero tolerance policies.
But hey look at it this way kiddos. Got a big game against a rival school? Photoshop your rivals heavy hitter in to a party scene and place an anonymous phone call to win that game
lujlp at October 16, 2013 9:25 PM
More and more it's becoming apparent that professional educators can't tell the difference between right and wrong. They seem able to understand only concrete absolutes like "zero tolerance" that require no critical thought or judgment.
Personally I think the girl would be better off if she got kicked out of that school altogether.
Ken R at October 17, 2013 2:45 AM
Perhaps school administrators generally do not want parents raising "brave, principled, kind-hearted kids".
After all, people with those qualities are very hard to control.
alittlesense at October 17, 2013 5:49 AM
"You seem to think this is a life lesson? Well, no, it's not."
Oh, it's a life lesson all right. Just not the one the school intended.
Cousin Dave at October 17, 2013 6:54 AM
The school cannot say anything substantive about a minor. Or multiple minors, as indicated by the cops busting the party. Privacy and all.
The school cannot say anything if there is an appeals process undergoing.
The article is one-sided and written to inflame your outrage. Nobody else can see it? Really?
I asked my son last night how many times he was suspended in school and between the two of us we couldn't remember all of them. Starting in like second grade. It means zip squat. It meant shit got real when I was in school but suspension (academic or athletic) is just commonplace now.
Luj, are you truly incapable of knowing the difference between legal and illegal alcohol/drug consumption? Do you think a teen might know?
LauraGr at October 17, 2013 8:52 AM
LauraGR, according to you, your son's school contract say ALCOHOL USE
Not ILLEGAL ALCOHOL USE. That means ANY use of alcohol legal or illegal.
Thats the problem with zero tolerance policies LauraGr, they prevent people from making judgements
lujlp at October 17, 2013 12:05 PM
Illegal drug or illegal alcohol use. Better? I'm sorry you had a difficult time understanding my previous post.
LauraGr at October 17, 2013 12:18 PM
I had no problem understanding your post, you had a problem properly articulating your thought
lujlp at October 17, 2013 1:09 PM
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