School suspends student for blood shot eyes

[pam]

Certainly the school administration were aware of this students situation.

School Suspends Boy for Bloodshot Eyes

[Maya]

Poor guy! Weird that school ... did not know....

[Dravin]

Policy: It does the thinking so you don't have to!

[TL10]

Geez... they do know that bloodshot eyes does not always mean they're on drugs, right?

[Roseslipper]

sad sad situation. God BLess that family in their time of need!!!! Shame on that school system....

[Just_A_Guy]

Tidbit: In the 1930s, my great-grandfather collapsed on the street into a diabetic coma, which can cause a smell like alcohol in your breath. The police (this was in Idaho Falls) threw him in jail to "sober up", and he died there.

[beefche]

At what point in time did common sense get banned?

[Dravin]

At what point in time did common sense get banned?

June 13th, 1967 @ 10:34 PM

[prisonchaplain]

The principal has since apologized, and the student's record has indicated excused absence, rather than suspension. Chances are the school has to deal with real cases fairly often, and that's why this reads so draconian. Yes, the family and student deserve compassion and understanding. However, objectively...I knew a lady who worked collections for a utility company and expressed mock shock at just how many children were on life support systems in their homes (i.e., this would come up when she would threaten to turn off the juice). Perhaps sometimes school officials get understandably jaded?

[Moksha]

The principal has since apologized, and the student's record has indicated excused absence, rather than suspension. Chances are the school has to deal with real cases fairly often, and that's why this reads so draconian. Yes, the family and student deserve compassion and understanding. However, objectively...I knew a lady who worked collections for a utility company and expressed mock shock at just how many children were on life support systems in their homes (i.e., this would come up when she would threaten to turn off the juice). Perhaps sometimes school officials get understandably jaded?

Suspending a kid because his eyes were red from crying about his father dying two days earlier seems so egregious that a little public humiliation for this school seems appropriate. I still want to slap that principal upside the head and I'm usually peaceable.

[Mahone]

Suspending a kid because his eyes were red from crying about his father dying two days earlier seems so egregious that a little public humiliation for this school seems appropriate. I still want to slap that principal upside the head and I'm usually peaceable.

I was actually going to write something along the same lines as PC before he posted, but didn't because I wasn't sure I'd get the wording out correctly. But I do completely understand what he is saying. Some schools will have continual issues with their students that other schools won't necessarily suffer from, it depends completely on what the surrounding area is like.

A glance over the article suggests to me that such extreme measures were put into place to deal with an extreme problem, most likely students coming into the school while high was a very regular occurance which couldnt be handled in any other way than a zero tolerance policy. Unfortunately, as with any zero tolerance policy, some innocent people will get caught up in it. It seems they had procedures in place for those who may not actually have been taking drugs, that was to get a test done themselves and provide the evidence to the school to prove innocence. The school probably didn't do these tests themselves due to the sheer volume of people protesting their innocence when caught, and I'd guess any that provide negative test results are cost refunded. Unfortunately, in this case, the cause of the blood shot eyes was also an extreme case and not one you'd really expect to come across on a regular basis, plus there is a good chance a lot of students used the excuse of crying for their bloodshot eyes, hence why the administration staff were so skeptical. How many teenagers do you expect to see in school two days after their father was murdered?

As for whether they should have listened to the mother... well, parents have been known to lie on behalf of their offspring. The school staff know the students there and what they are like. We don't. This was an extreme and very unusual case.

[Laureltree]

THey were fully aware, sounds like they need a new nurse, one that is better educated....

[Laureltree]

Honestly Ive live in Texas on and off for 10 years, stuff like this isnt uncommon....This mother's best bet is to bring a Lawyer to the appeal so they know she is serious. other wise this will be on the kids record permently, which means even colleges see it ..Totally not fair !

[prisonchaplain]

Every bureaucracy deserves an occasional dose of humility and shame for refusing to look above the stack of papers, and see the people. On the other hand, the school deserves some understanding too.

1. The principal and school have rescinded all negative notations from the students file.

2. The principal apologized. Principal apologizes after teen's suspension | school, principal, suspended - Local News -

3. Turns out this is a new school, one that will turn out its first graduating class in 2012. As such, it has little tradition, probably little sense of community and knowing who students are.

4. Don't you just imagine that some students rightly accused of drug use have feigned family tragedies to try to get out of trouble?

[Mahone]

THey were fully aware, sounds like they need a new nurse, one that is better educated....

How do you know?

[Wingnut]

THey were fully aware, sounds like they need a new nurse, one that is better educated....

The nurse's education is irrelevant if there's a zero tolerance policy.

[Gretchen]

Most high schools have an SRO (student resource officer). Why couldn't s/he just do a quick breath analyzer?

[Wingnut]

Most high schools have an SRO (student resource officer). Why couldn't s/he just do a quick breath analyzer?

Without parental consent?

[Saldrin]

At what point in time did common sense get banned?

some time between 1850 and 1909

[jayanna]

Without parental consent?

It might sound odd, but at the school my kids are attending, parents sign permission to drug test at the beginning of the school year.

3 or 4 kids have been tested that I know of in the last 6 months, and this is a low crime area.

I"m glad, I don't want decisions to be made as the result of finger pointing, I would rather they have evidence before conviction.

They also have 'pop' drug tests for students in exracirricular activities during the year.

Edited September 14, 2010 by jayanna

[Wingnut]

It might sound odd, but at the school my kids are attending, parents sign permission to drug test at the beginning of the school year.

3 or 4 kids have been tested that I know of in the last 6 months, and this is a low crime area.

I"m glad, I don't want decisions to be made as the result of finger pointing, I would rather they have evidence before conviction.

They also have 'pop' drug tests for students in exracirricular activities during the year.

That's different. If permission is already given and documented, then that's okay. At my all-night grad party, local law enforcement was present as we all checked in. They searched each of us and did random (though I think it was "random") breathalyzers. Parents and students were informed of this in advance. Where nearly all the graduated seniors were 18 already, parental consent was not required. If a student refused, however, they weren't allowed to attend grad night.