Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school

shreveporttimes.com ^ | 12/06/03 | metalboy

[metalboy]

Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school Melody Brumble / The Times Posted on December 5, 2003 A student expelled from Parkway High for a year for having Advil, an over-the-counter pain reliever, will not be allowed to return to the school.

[metalboy]

Advil! My God! The "Advanced Pill"??!! They should have immediately called the police, called in SWAT, the National Guard, and blown this villan into oblivion!!! Just one more example of how common sense is all but gone from our schools. Next I guess they`ll be susupending kids who bring in sock puppets.

[ppaul]

This sort of nonsense is going on all over the country. In a school district in our area, a girl was expelled for "PDA's" and having some Midol in her purse. The school superintendent's excuse? Zero Tolerance."

[Prime Choice]

Who ARE these idiots and what are they doing running a school??

A perfectly legal drug acquired in a perfectly legal way is considered grounds for expulsion?

These morons need to understand that Zero Tolerance does not mean Zero Intelligence. Sorry, but these folks are using it as an excuse to be belligerent dunderheads. They need to be fired. Period.

[Ruth A.]

Seems to me that this search would be on shakey ground. If they refuse to use common sense in their rulings, then go ahead and sue them.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

The NEA people need to be reminded that they work for American parents and taxpayers. What madness! Whatever happened to common sense?

[jaykay]

I'm not really sure at this point what we'll do," Herpin said. "I'm going to have to talk to my husband, and we're going to have to make some plans. I'm not sure we could afford a private school. We've been looking at moving to another area."

If they find a marginally decent attorney, they will be able to afford a private school, a mansion, a yacht...

[torchthemummy]

What happens if a girl is found with a birth control pill - automatic promotion to the next grade? As a conservative, I am strongly on the side of law and order but this is a clear case where the letter of the law trumps a reasonable application of the spirit of the law.

[Unknown Freeper]

Evidently, the board members have never had a bad case of cramps.

[tbpiper]

this is a clear case where the letter of the law trumps a reasonable application of the spirit of the law.

I agree. To me, it seems that when the letter of the law is applied with appropriate amounts of wisdom & mercy the result is 'justice'. This case has no amount of either.

[Clara Lou]

This is interesting. In our district, middle schoolers and high schoolers can carry their own OTC meds and self-medicate. They can't share it with anyone, though.

[Clara Lou]

Just curious: What's NEA got to do with state laws, school districts, and school board decisions? [answer: not much}

[fporretto]

Apparently juveniles in the loving embrace of our government-run schools have no rights at all. But then, why should they have rights? The rest of us don't.

See also this.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit the Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com

[grania]

The school superintendent's excuse? Zero Tolerance."

I've seen cases in which the schools dislike zero tolerance on anything, and not being able to play with the rules, and use a case like this to reduce the policy to ridicule.

The other point is that these kids are minors, and nobody should be giving them a pharmaceutical, over the counter or not. Most schools have a policy that they should be left in the nurses office with instructions. If there's not a policy like that, how are you going to stop the kids from sharing their medications, or having something illegal in an Advil (or whatever) bottle? (And yes, that happens)

Actually, if a student isn't feeling well, like with this girl and headaches, it's probably best to check with the nurse to see if she should go home, or rest before going back to class. Plus, the kids know the rules..."it's only Advil, who knew they'd check" just doesn't fly.

[Bonneville]

The NEA through the local teachers union has a tremendous influence in school board elections...who gets the teachers' support (and that frequently means undue influence on the school kids, especially high school) and who gets $$$.
Also, with a hammerlock on the 'Rats education positions, the NEA has alot of influence on laws and policies at the state level.

[pageonetoo]

"The other point is that these kids are minors, and nobody should be giving them...
Plus, the kids know the rules..."

your tagline doesn't jibe with your thoughts...
You are not allowing for Constitutionally guaranteed INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, even for... 'the chil'run'.
It seems you may have, in fact, been fooled, again, into thinking just like the school board... WE MAKE THE RULES, AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, TOUGH S..T! If you have no copy, you can go and look up historical documents.
www.federalist.com

Every CITIZEN has Rights. The Constitution lists no exceptions, for age!

[grania]

I've spent plenty of time in the classroom and have seen cases where students have been carrying around illegal stuff in their Advil, etc. bottles. Then, I've seen them share it. If this is allowed you create a situation where teachers end up checking that it's really Advil in the Advil bottle.

The rule might be an inconvenience, but nobody is denying the girl her Advil here. Plus, it's a slippery slope. What are you going to end up with? A list of approved drugs for the kids to carry around? And what if they take too many of something and overdose? Nobrainer that's a lawsuit if a parent didn't give the kid the drug.

Won't get fooled again?...Yeah, sometimes I am. But this time, no. The extreme punishment seems like an attempt to dismantle the law, given the opportunity by a girl who didn't want to be inconvenienced by something as trivial as a rule.

[Joe Bonforte]

This is not really to you, metalboy, but to all our Freeper drug warriors.

Thanks once again to all our drug warrior friends for helping create a climate of ignorance and fear about pharmaceuticals. I know some of you didn't intend for our educators to go this far. But they did it because of the hysteria you folks introduced into the issue. By pounding home your "Drugs are evil!!" mantra, you have demonized anything associated with consumption of drugs, illegal or legal.

You make worse the very problem you are trying to solve. By railing about "zero tolerance", you've created this climate. Kids see these incidents and draw the conclusion that the whole of drug policy is stupid. It therefore becomes less of a deterrent.

If only you could see the truth. Drugs are not evil. Some drugs are stupid choices, and some more so than others. Without the demonization and hysteria, perhaps our society could come to a rational solution, and stop preposterous incidents like these. But your ilk is the biggest barrier to that.

[Clara Lou]

The NEA through the local teachers union has a tremendous influence in school board elections...who gets the teachers' support (and that frequently means undue influence on the school kids, especially high school) and who gets $$$. Also, with a hammerlock on the 'Rats education positions, the NEA has alot of influence on laws and policies at the state level.
I see that you are from New York. Please be aware that NEA's big influence in the northeast doesn't necessarily extend to all of the states in the union. I'm in Texas. The NEA is not the powerful influence here that it is in NY. I can assure you that here in Texas, for example, teachers do not vote according to the NEA's wishes. The NEA had nothing to do with the selection of our school board or selection of our superintendent. Rank ignorance is the culprit therre.

[Bonneville]

That's good to hear (at least the NEA part). About 10 years ago, in a suburban town near mine, a local taxpayers rights group got a majority on their school board. The union flunky board head REFUSED to provide them with an itemised breakdown of the school district budget when asked! The next year the anonymous flyers full of lies started showing up in the mailboxes and, worst of all, the teachers brought school board politics into the classroom (all one sided of course). within 2 years or so the revolt was crushed and union backed candidates were back in control$$$.

[petitfour]

I spent many years in school myself. I don't recall whether I ever took OTC meds to school or not. I do recall several teachers who would give us Tylenol or aspirin if we asked. It was probably a little secret between students and teachers. Shoot, I was pretty close with the principals at my high school. I don't doubt that they or the secretaries would have handed me a Tylenol if I asked. That was in the mid 80s.

This is all sort of funny. Expulsion over Advil. Common sense has left the building. Are teachers allowed to have Advil? Or do they get fired for bringing an evil drug to school? Should women have to go home when they have cramps once a month? Or should they have to go to the office and request an Advil from their stash kept by the nurse and authorized by their doctor? Should young ladies/women have to inform the school of their monthlies just to make sure they are taking Advil for the right reason? Sooooooooo stupid. I bet a bunch of MALE LAWYERS wrote the policy for the police STATE.