Teenager gets 45 days suspension for perscribed cold pill

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2004-05-30 11:39pm

Associated Press
WEST JORDAN, Utah -- Because of a zero-tolerance drug policy, a 13-year-old boy has been suspended from school for 45 days for giving a cousin a cold pill -- even though it had been prescribed for both children.

More than 50 parents and other community members have signed a petition asking the West Jordan School Board to modify its rigid policy, said Heidi Burningham, the boy's mother.

She said she agreed that her son, Tyson, should not have been carrying his medicine at school, but said officials overreacted with the suspension, which will continue into the new school term when Tyson starts eighth grade.

"Forty-five days is excessive," she said. "My son won't be allowed back in school until Oct. 17."

School officials said they could not discuss a specific case, but district spokesman Mike Kelley defended the drug policy as a collaborative work of board and community members.

Schools in some other states may show leniency under zero-tolerance drug policies.

Principals in Sacramento, Calif., have leeway to decide punishments for violations of its drug policy, said district spokeswoman Maria Lopez. Schools in Boise, Idaho, and Memphis, Tenn., also allow principals to adjust sanctions. Some other school districts across the country are reviewing drug-use policies.

mauldooku · Post by **mauldooku** » 2004-05-30 11:51pm

I do find it humorous how cold pills are suddenly bannable.

I can sort o' understand in a setting such as the Olympics, but in a middle school?

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-05-31 12:02am

It's a bit dumb but I can understand why they wouldn't want kids giving out prescription meds to other kids. Whether they're prescribed or not, it can cause trouble enough for the school.

mauldooku · Post by **mauldooku** » 2004-05-31 12:05am

Stormbringer wrote:It's a bit dumb but I can understand why they wouldn't want kids giving out prescription meds to other kids. Whether they're prescribed or not, it can cause trouble enough for the school.

Normally I'd understand your position, but it was the same pill prescribed for both kids! True, it was dumb for the kid to do that, but is the retaliation really justified?

J · Post by J » 2004-05-31 12:11am

Stormbringer wrote:It's a bit dumb but I can understand why they wouldn't want kids giving out prescription meds to other kids. Whether they're prescribed or not, it can cause trouble enough for the school.

I'm sure there's all sorts of liability issues, like for instance if some kid had a bad or fatal reaction to the medication, but this, this is just assinine. One, they're cousins, and two, they both had the same prescription. IF he was handing out pills to random students I can understand a harsh penalty being leveled against him, but this, this, god it's just plain dumb.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-05-31 12:14am

You can't allow students to pass out prescription drugs--they're not pharmacists, and thanks to in loco parentis, if someone gets sick or killed like that, the school is responsible. But a 45 day suspension is absolutely absurd and got to illustrate the idiocy of most "zero tolerance" policies. Give the kid a tongue lashing and a week's detention and he'll learn his lesson. It's not like he was selling meth.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2004-05-31 12:27am

RedImperator wrote:Give the kid a tongue lashing and a week's detention and he'll learn his lesson. It's not like he was selling meth.

I'm surprised schools don't do that more, suspensions are about the worst thing at deterring negative behaviour since a fair number of kids (including myself) viewed them as a free vacation. Getting chewed out by the teacher & principal and getting stuck in detention, well, that ain't fun and it's something I wouldn't want to happen. Losing recess & lunch hour privledges and having to stay after school seriously sucks.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2004-05-31 12:46am

RedImperator wrote:You can't allow students to pass out prescription drugs--they're not pharmacists, and thanks to in loco parentis, if someone gets sick or killed like that, the school is responsible. But a 45 day suspension is absolutely absurd and got to illustrate the idiocy of most "zero tolerance" policies. Give the kid a tongue lashing and a week's detention and he'll learn his lesson. It's not like he was selling meth.

Question? What the hell is a prescription cold med? Off the top of my head, I can't think of one. Perscription strength Tylenol? IB Profin? Anti hystimene? WTF?

I mean, if they were swaping ritilin or prozac, ok I with it. But cold medicine? Thats dumb and there should be leency in the system.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2004-05-31 12:50am

aerius wrote:Losing recess & lunch hour privledges and having to stay after school seriously sucks.

Heh. I knew a guy who simply didn't attend detentions, and my school just stopped giving them to him. Of course, his brother told me that - so I probably didn't get the full story anyway.

I never understood suspensions. It isn't harsh, as you said the student gets a free holiday. It puts the student at a disadvantage, when he returns he'll have missed out on a lot of work. I guess you're supposed to 'do' this on your free holiday, pity no-one thought that work without supervision often falls prey to laziness. Finally it shows that school doesn't give a shit; they just want you out. Why the hell should the student give a damn in return?

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-05-31 12:51am

Our school has In-School Suspensions. Teachers occasionally issue detentions but the school hands out ISS's like candy. Yelling in the cafeteria? ISS. No hall pass? Two ISS's. Ten minute unexecused lateness? ISS. And if they find a CD player IN YOUR LOCKER? It's theirs now.

Post by **Edi** » 2004-05-31 01:38am

RedImperator wrote:You can't allow students to pass out prescription drugs--they're not pharmacists, and thanks to in loco parentis, if someone gets sick or killed like that, the school is responsible. But a 45 day suspension is absolutely absurd and got to illustrate the idiocy of most "zero tolerance" policies. Give the kid a tongue lashing and a week's detention and he'll learn his lesson. It's not like he was selling meth.

Same prescription for both kids, who are cousins to boot and who likely spend a lot of time together outside the school anyway and both of whose parents presumably know each other very well, which would (rightly) make the kids see nothing wrong with what they did. The school board are a bunch of fuckwits in this case, and this is yet another example of common sense not being as common as the name implies. Punishment proprotionate to the offense and mitigating circumstances being present in heaps and all that, so the most they should have gotten was a verbal warning and the teacher having a quiet word with the parents.

The most telling sign that incompetents are trying to cover their arses is the phrase "We cannot discuss a particular case" even when the details of that particular case happen to be plastered all over the news. It's a shame really that it isn't possible to sack the people responsible, because that's what they deserve.

Edi

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2004-05-31 01:41am

HemlockGrey wrote:And if they find a CD player IN YOUR LOCKER? It's theirs now.

What the fuck is this shit? If it's your locker, and isn't being used, what right do they have to take it off you?

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-05-31 02:06am

Edi wrote:
RedImperator wrote:You can't allow students to pass out prescription drugs--they're not pharmacists, and thanks to in loco parentis, if someone gets sick or killed like that, the school is responsible. But a 45 day suspension is absolutely absurd and got to illustrate the idiocy of most "zero tolerance" policies. Give the kid a tongue lashing and a week's detention and he'll learn his lesson. It's not like he was selling meth.
Same prescription for both kids, who are cousins to boot and who likely spend a lot of time together outside the school anyway and both of whose parents presumably know each other very well, which would (rightly) make the kids see nothing wrong with what they did. The school board are a bunch of fuckwits in this case, and this is yet another example of common sense not being as common as the name implies. Punishment proprotionate to the offense and mitigating circumstances being present in heaps and all that, so the most they should have gotten was a verbal warning and the teacher having a quiet word with the parents.

The most telling sign that incompetents are trying to cover their arses is the phrase "We cannot discuss a particular case" even when the details of that particular case happen to be plastered all over the news. It's a shame really that it isn't possible to sack the people responsible, because that's what they deserve.

Despite the apparent familiarity, the kids aren't pharmacists. Given that the school would be responsible making sure kids keep their meds to themselves is reasonable. What would have happened if he'd given him the pill and he had an overdose and got sick?

Anhaga · Post by **Anhaga** » 2004-05-31 02:32am

Back in my school, if you got suspended, you had to sit outside the teachers lounge the whole damn day. If they had any odd jobs to do they'd give them to you.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2004-05-31 02:49am

Stormbringer wrote:Despite the apparent familiarity, the kids aren't pharmacists. Given that the school would be responsible making sure kids keep their meds to themselves is reasonable. What would have happened if he'd given him the pill and he had an overdose and got sick?

But still, 45 days is a tad harsh.

Vohu Manah · Post by **Vohu Manah** » 2004-05-31 07:00am

I'm not sure if I agree that the punishment is that harsh (might as well have expelled the two rather than issue 45 day suspensions). Procedure at all the Cali schools I attended was that prescription medications were kept with the school nurse and you were sent to him/her when you needed to take it. It was clearly stated in the rules that this was the procedure (you brought in the number of pills from the prescription that would be needed during school hours and showed them the prescription as written by the doctor, or something to that effect).

salm · Post by **salm** » 2004-05-31 07:50am

this is dumb. if one of them simply forgot to bring his meds it would still be wrong to share them even though it´s the exact same thing? meh, another victimles crime.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-05-31 11:03am

Punishment was necessary, but I agree that 45-days is far too much and likely not sending the right message.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-05-31 12:06pm

salm wrote:this is dumb. if one of them simply forgot to bring his meds it would still be wrong to share them even though it´s the exact same thing? meh, another victimles crime.

Maybe so (this times), but if you don't see the major problem in having a child dispensing perscription drugs, then you're blind.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-05-31 12:12pm

The kid needed to be punished in some way because the school can't allow prescription drugs to be distributed without their direct supervision--that's probably state law and that's probably a stipulation of their liability insurance. And for good reason for that, too--the wrong prescription can kill someone, especially a kid. They can't allow special exceptions because these kids are cousins or they take the same drug. The rules have to apply to everyone--it's only fair, and rules are a lot less effective when people see there are special exceptions all over the place. And just because they take the same drug doesn't mean they have the same scrip. For all we know, the cousin's normal dose is half that of the first kid.

By the way, my school absolished suspensions entirely and replaced them with "Three to seven school". If you committed an offense that would previously have earned a suspension, you were forced to come to school between 3 PM and 7 PM and spend four hours sitting in a little room doing classwork your teachers sent. And if you ran out of that, you got to stare at the walls--no pleasure reading, no talking, no food, no sleeping. You did that for however many days you would have been suspended before. It was a remarkably effective deterrent.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-05-31 12:23pm

Story with more details from the Salt Lake Tribue

Tyson Burningham and his cousin, Enzio Dammaschke, 13, both have prescriptions for 12-hour guaisenex pse 600/120, said Heidi Burningham.

The generic medication contains 600 milligrams of guaisenesin (sic), used to break up phlegm, and 120 milligrams of pseudoephedrine, used to open nasal airways and drain sinuses, explained Ian Lloyd, a Rite Aid pharmacist in Salt Lake City.

"Students aren't allowed to self-medicate -- whether it's aspirin or a prescription drug," she said. "But principals decide what the consequences will be on a case-by-case basis."

45 days is excessive but most 13 year olds should not be allowed to decide when to give themselves or someone else medications. I know there are people here would will bitch about that comment and as someone who grew up with a pharmacist for a father I can tell you I was capable of following medical labels better than a lot of adults when I was 13 but you have to think of the average 13 year old (just look at a lot of adults who can't follow labeling). Plus, even if you are smart enough to stick to what the labeling says the schools rules help illiminate someone pressuring you to give them medications and a whole lot of other potential problems.

Pseudoephedrine (one of the ingredients) is often obused because of it's stimulent properties. A lot of pharmacies limit the amount you can purchase and even keep it behind the main counter because it can be used to make meth. Obviously, these kids weren't doing that but unfortunately schools have to be very careful these days.

I have been in schools, Boy Scouts, the Navy, where they liked to keep close track of what you took, even non-prescritption drugs.

For school and Boy Scouts we were required to leave any prescription drugs we had to take while at school or at camp in the nurses office. That way they could safegaurd it and make sure we were taking it correctly when we showed up to take it. Any other drugs we wished to take were the same. If I had a headache I had to go to the nurse for some tylenol.

Pharmacy Health on GUAIFENEX PSE which is the same thing, at least ingredient wise. [/quote]

Liquid guaifenesin is commonly referred to as Robitussin in the US.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-05-31 12:30pm

I don't know why some people think suspensions aren't all that bad. Yes you don't have to attend school but the schools I attended automatically gave you a zero for any test or projects that were due while you were gone. You weren't supposed to be able to make any of that stuff up. Plus, if you were suspended more than a couple of times you were expelled.

I guess I went to high school in a place and during a time when expelling you was a decent threat. The vast majority of the people in my school wanted to be there, at least in the sense that they knew they needed to graduate from high school if they didn't want their lives to totally suck.

I wonder if they could do something like that now with this "No Child Left Behind" bs?

Mitth`raw`nuruodo · Post by **Mitth`raw`nuruodo** » 2004-05-31 01:24pm

While I agree that punishment of some kind was necessary, 45 days of suspension seems a little excessive. I don't know how the system there works, but at my school, the worst you get is a 10-day suspension (which means you automatically fail for that semester, as >9 days absent unexcused = Failing Due to Absenses), and recommendation for expulsion. *shrugs*

Without knowing the exact circumstances of this... I dunno. 45 days seems too much.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-06-01 02:18pm

Stofsk wrote:
HemlockGrey wrote:And if they find a CD player IN YOUR LOCKER? It's theirs now.
What the fuck is this shit? If it's your locker, and isn't being used, what right do they have to take it off you?

If your school does not permit you to bring CD players, there is usually a clause in the Student Code of Conduct (or its equivilent) that says that the school may confiscate it.

It isn't your locker ... it's the school's locker that you have been assigned.

LordShaithis · Post by **LordShaithis** » 2004-06-01 03:58pm

So? I can't pass a rule that says "items brought into my house become mine." Why should the school get to? I swear if I were younger and went there, I'd intentionally let them confiscate a cheap CD player, and then spend the rest of the year trying to charge them with theft.