Third-grader suspended for taking vitamin at school

al.com ^ | January, 30 2003

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- A third-grader who took a vitamin with his lunch at school was suspended for five days for violating the Mobile County system's zero-tolerance policy for substance abuse.

Ricky Wright, the student's father, said the pill was a green multivitamin. Wright said he and his wife -- a registered nurse -- did not think his son, Ryan, was wrong in taking the pill to O'Rourke Elementary School.

Wright said school officials overreacted and a five-day suspension was too harsh a penalty.

But school officials cited written policy, made available to parents, that specifically prohibits students from bringing to school vitamins and even look-alike candies. The concern is that another student, possibly allergic to the substance, could have taken it.

O'Rourke Principal Karen Mohr said other students saw "a purple pill."

"It was very frightening because we didn't know what the child had ingested," she said.

[alisasny]

What next chapstick????

They do sell a medicated chapstick for extreme dry lips...

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

"Whattya in for?"
"I got 3 to 5 for conspiracy to chew Flintstone Kids Chewables."

[mamalujo]

Was this the first time he had taken his vitamins at school?

[AmericaUnited]

IDIOCY RUNNING AMUCK!

[Joe Hadenuf]

O'Rourke Principal Karen Mohr said other students saw "a purple pill." "It was very frightening because we didn't know what the child had ingested," she said.

Next time Ms Mohr, try asking the kid.

Public schools are full of hysterical people.....

[Texas_Jarhead]

a third grader violates a school's zero-tolerance policy for substance abuse by taking a vitamin..? Come on people, pull your heads outta yur Klintons. How about some common sense here.

Observation: the more one moves to the left ideologically the more their common sense diminishes.

[demlosers]

O'Rourke Principal Karen Mohr said other students saw "a purple pill."

"It was very frightening because we didn't know what the child had ingested," she said.

Translation: We're very frightened of being sued.

[capitan_refugio]

This points out the problem with "zero tolerance" type policies. The only way to fight this type of idiocy is to make the claim and prove the pill was not a medication, but a food supplement. I mean a kid at this school could get suspended for having a candy cherry Luden's! Sheesh.

The idea that another student could eat it and get sick, is an overblown concern. My son has a food allegy to fresh tomatoes. He knows not to eat them, even if he trades sandwiches with a buddy. Do we outlaw tomatoes because some kid might become ill by eating them?

[LayoutGuru2]

Next time send 'em off to school with some of this:

Kid Stoned Chewable Valium

[lodwick]

Sweet Jesus!

[VadeRetro]

"It was very frightening because we didn't know what the child had ingested," she said.

Frighten a liberal, go to jail. It's the law.

[Polycarp]

homeschool. before its too late.

[Slyfox]

What the big deal is a "suspension" from school anyways?
Everyone prays for teacher inservice and snow days.
And yes, Virginia, we must all thank the good Lord for MLK day.

[sheik yerbouty]

Hasn't this PC idiocy gone on long enough?

[spokanite]

Hmm, chapstick is considered a drug and it's not allowed. Two years ago I received a call from my daughter's school and they informed me that she had chapstick in her possession and it wasn't allowed at school. So, no more chapstick in her backpack!

[ladylib]

Don't think students haven't been suspended for Luden's Wild Cherry Cough drops.

[537 Votes]

Frighten a liberal, go to jail. It's the law.

Someday under President Hillary, the military and police will simply throw down their weapons and walk away and say, "You liberals can enforce your own ridiculous laws!"

[henderson field]

Principal Karen Mohr is a communist, and "zero-tolerance" is a Nazi concept. We're sinking faster than you know.

[RobRoy]

These peoples reactions are truly moronic. I'm speechless (after saying that).

[RobRoy]

>>"Whattya in for?"
"I got 3 to 5 for conspiracy to chew Flintstone Kids Chewables."<<

"Hey, those are kid's stuff. Try one of mine, you'll be flyin' for a week."

[Cultural Jihad]

Wright said school officials overreacted and a five-day suspension was too harsh a penalty.

Diluting the severeness of a suspension with this zero-tolerance nonsense in way helps the efforts at instilling and fostering personal responsibility and good citizenship.

[OldFriend]

Well I don't suppose they could have solved the mystery by asking the child what that was he had just put in his mouth.

[jlogajan]

The war-on-drug nuts march ever onward.

[AZLiberty]

You should have put the "Home School Alert" on this one.

[SuperLuminal]

Not sure what this child's government-permitted caretaker is pissed about.

When children are abused by forcing them into a government asylum, only the benevolent government has the right to determine what is "right" and what is "wrong" for them.

Sheep is as sheep does.

[ladylib]

I'd cut them some slack on this one since the school officials said they didn't know what the kid ingested.

However, most zero tolerance policies are a crock. Even if a principal knows a Luden's Wild Cherry cough drop is just that, he invokes a zero-tolerance policy.

Some girl in Georgia was suspended for ten days for PRETENDING that the Welch's grape juice that she just brought in the cafeteria (and the school officials KNEW she just brought it in the cafeteria) was wine.

Public school officials who go along with these policies are idiots. They deserve no respect, just contempt and ridicule.

[ladylib]

That's another thing entirely. Peanut allergies can be life threatening and that's been proven. Allergies due to a candy cough drop or a vitamin? Maybe, but hardly likely. Certainly not likely enough to ban them.

[GRRRRR]

Here's their WEBSITE: http://orourke.mce.schoolinsites.com/
LINK

And
O'Rourke Elementary
1975 Leroy Stevens Road
Mobile, Al. 36695
Principal: Karen Mohr
Grades: 1-6
Phone: (251) 639-9498
Karen Mohr

Position: Principal
Education: Baker High School Graduate in 1975; Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education; Masters of Art in Early Childhood Education; Education of Science in Early Childhood Education
Experience: 23 years in Mobile County Public School System; Taught for 11 years at Craighead and E.R. Dickson Elementary; 12 years in Administration; 3 years as Assistant Principal at Saraland, Meadowlake, and South Brookley Elementary; 9 years as Principal, 7 years at South Brookley Elementary; 2 years at O'Rourke Elementary
Philosophy: Children First; Open Door Policy
Personal: My husband and I have 1,052 children under one roof.

[Willie Green]

What next chapstick????
They do sell a medicated chapstick for extreme dry lips...

Friday, Jan. 17, 2003

by Adam Fabian

Heroin and chapstick: any difference?

I watch a lot of TV, drink a lot of coffee, but you know what's really addicting?

Chapstick.

People always look at me funny whenever I mention the serious nature of Chapstick addiction, but it's a real issue. Chapstick is just as addicting as heroin, cocaine and that silly I love the 80s series on VH-1.

I've seen the effects of Chapstick addiction first hand, and let me tell you: It's no laughing matter.

Many times, my good friend (who shall remain nameless) and I have been on our way driving home for a semester break when the effects of this dangerous addiction starts to rear its ugly head.

"My lips are starting to burn! Where's my friggin' Chapstick?" Randy will shout in a panic.

Burning lips aren't the only symptom of withdrawal from the "stick-o-goodness," as I like to call it.

Headaches have also been known the wreak havoc on unfortunate addicts. I've heard stories of people going on a long trip and suffering because they forgot their Chapstick.

I myself have had bouts with this dangerous treat. In fact, just yesterday I realized I forgot my Chapstick after I arrived to class. About halfway through, I started to feel my lips drying up and craved Chapstick more then ever. Just then, I noticed a stick in the bag of a student next to me.

It took every ounce of effort in me to not steal the bag and run out of class, but I didn't.

I agree that Chapstick is needed and serves the better interest of the public, but we need to examine its effects and its sales tactics. It is marketed no different than other drugs that are hocked on the street.

First, you always get the first one free. Have you ever noticed how Chapstick always comes in packages of two? "Buy one get one free," they call it. This is the same tactic dealers use. Give the first hit free. Then keep them going with a steady stream so they form an addiction.

Heroin and Dr Pepper-flavored Chapstick -- it's all the same. You always want more.

And now, gender roles have come into play. Trying to make its use -- and subsequent abuse -- more socially acceptable for men, Blistex has introduced a line of "Chapstick for men."

Apparently, the new stick doesn't leave a gloss and doesn't have fruity colors on the label. Something like that. All I know is, according to the mobster-type person in the commercial, I've been a woman for using "women's Chapstick."

"It's for men, Johnny. For men," the commercial says.

But don't fret, help is out there.

There are ways to beat the addiction. You can join Lip Balm Anonymous.

When you feel like you can't finish the 12-step program and feel the urge to revert to your old ways, remember that the next time you reach for that Mango stick-o-goodness, you may be on your way to a life on the streets, asking for change so you can run and buy a new stick.

[Mercat]

I sent my child when she was in seventh grade (about six years ago) to school with a mild decongestent/antihistimine because I didn't want to give her an eight hour pill. What a mistake that was. I now know, however that these pills (chlortrimeton) are abused by the middle school set and heaven knows, she's abused a lot of drugs since then. Anyway, she and her friends ended up getting strip searched and having an in school suspension. sigh.

[philman_36]

Flintlock Harkenfarker?! Is that translatable?

[hoosierham]

Various cough drops ,especially menthol, were all that kept me able to attend school as I got LOTS of colds. Geting up in a cold house ,going to a cold car,then a cold school bus every morning made winter miserable. ...but I DIDN'T want to miss school.

[FlyingA]

GRRRR I just called down there. A woman answered - she was the Cleaning Lady. She was very Nice. She said she has been answering the Phones, allot folks are calling.

She took a message from me, I will call back tomorrow to try and talk to the Principal. Would love to have more folks calling down there to let these &*&(*%&$%# know
how We feel about this. They need to be embarassed.

Hope Oreilly gets Wind of this and Calls them on Carpet.
I would love to see the Third GRader on Orielly and these people have some action taken.

FlyingA

[Trickyguy]

I thought we were supposed to be scared of the Purple People Eater, not the Purple Pill Eater.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

And I proceeded to tell him the story of the Mobile County system's zero-tolerance policy for substance abuse , with full orchestration and five part harmony and stuff like that and all the phenome... - and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, did you ever go to detention?"

And I proceeded to tell him the story of the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and the paragraph on the back of each one, and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, I want you to go and sit down on that bench that says Group W .... NOW kid!!"

And I, I walked over to the, to the bench there, and there is, Group W's where they put you if you may not be moral enough to join the army after committing your special crime, and there was all kinds of mean nasty ugly looking people on the bench there. Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father rapers! Father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me! And they was mean and nasty and ugly and horrible crime-type guys sitting on the bench next to me. And the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one, the meanest father raper of them all, was coming over to me and he was mean 'n' ugly 'n' nasty 'n' horrible and all kind of things and he sat down next to me and said, "Kid, whad'ya get?" I said, "I didn't get nothing, I had to go to the priciples office and wait for my parents." He said, "What are you in detention for, kid?" And I said, "Taking my chewables to school"

And they all moved away from me on the bench there, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I said, "It was very frightening because they didn't know what i had ingested"

And they all came back, shook my hand, and we had a great time on the bench, talkin about crime, mother stabbing, father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the bench. And everything was fine, we was smoking cigarettes and all kinds of things, until the Teacher came over, had some paper in her hand, held it up and said.

"Kids, this-piece-of-paper's-got-47-words-37-sentences-58-words-we-wanna- know-details-of-the-crime-time-of-the-crime-and-any-other-kind-of-thing- you-gotta-say-pertaining-to-and-about-the-crime-I-want-to-know-arresting- officer's-name-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say", and talked for forty-five minutes and nobody understood a word that he said, but we had fun filling out the forms and playing with the pencils on the bench there, and I filled out the purple pill with the four part harmony, and wrote it down there, just like it was, and everything was fine and I put down the pencil, and I turned over the piece of paper, and there, there on the other side, in the middle of the other side, away from everything else on the other side, in parentheses, capital letters, quotated, read the following words:

("KID, HAVE YOU REHABILITATED YOURSELF?")

[FlyingA]

Oh Please Bill Oreily pick up on this one Please.

People call there too! I just did and will again in am.

FlyingA

[ladylib]

Why not just close down the public schools altogether and then no one will have to worry about lunch, or much else either?

[babygene]

Perhaps they should try minding their own business...

[FlyingA]

AP Good work here. Im having Vision of Alices Restaraunt
Is there a Song in the Making over this.

I'm just sadened for the the "Third Grader". Gheez when I was a Third Grader I too my Flintstones to school.

Call in Campaign.

FlyingA

[Political Junkie Too]

The concern is that another student, possibly allergic to the substance, could have taken it.

This is the telling statement. Children are not being punished for what they do, they are being punished for what some hypothetical person might do.

Where will this line of reasoning end?

-PJ

[NonValueAdded]

Excellent post!

I'd be kinda proud to sit on the Group W bench these days. Sounds like a good moniker for a chat room!

[ladylib]

Read this and then you will understand why mush heads are running the schools.

http://www.aacte.org/teamcbeyer.htm

Can anyone make any sense out of this because I can't even after two glasses of wine.

[FlyingA]

Yes the Group W Bench "Alices"
or Dubya

[Fintan]

...school officials cited written policy, made available to parents, that specifically prohibits students from bringing to school vitamins and even look-alike candies.

"It was very frightening because we didn't know what the child had ingested," she said.

"However, if the child had expressed a positive interest in diversity, homosexuality, abortion and embracing Islam and Saddam Hussein, you wouldn't be reading this now".

[daughterofTGSL]

At my old school, a Catholic school mind you, we weren't allowed to eat cough drops, and they were seriously considering outlawing peanuts because one girl was allergic to them. Not only that, but kids with asthma had to keep their inhalers in the office, and even when we were running a mile outside, they couldn't bring their inhalers with them. If they needed them, they had to go inside for them. At my best friend's old school, also a Catholic school, she had to go to the hospital once because they wouldn't let her use her inhaler.
It was only a matter of time before the liberal public school ideology would spread to Catholic schools, and I thought you guys might be interested to hear what's going on outside of the news.

[mvpel]

Do we outlaw tomatoes because some kid might become ill by eating them?

They're already doing it with peanuts in the government schools.

[FlyingA]

Thanks
daughterofTGSL