When a Fairfax County mother got an urgent call from school last month reporting that her teenage daughter was caught popping a pill at lunchtime, she did not panic. “It was probably her birth-control pill,” she thought. She was right. Her heart dropped that afternoon in the assistant principal’s office at Oakton High School when she and her daughter heard the mandatory punishment: A two-week suspension and recommendation for expulsion. “I realize my daughter broke a rule,” the mother said. But in an appeal to the school system, she reasoned, “the punishment does not fit the crime.”
For two decades, many schools have set zero-tolerance policies on drugs. That means no over-the-counter drugs, no prescription drugs, no pretend drugs in student lockers or pockets. When many teens have ready access to medicine cabinets filled with prescription medications such as Xanax and Vicodin, any capsule or tablet is suspect.
Still, some parents and civil rights advocates say enforcement has been overzealous. Stringent rules have ensnared not only drug dealers and abusers, but a host of sniffling and headachy students seeking quick medical relief. The Supreme Court will consider this month the case of a 13-year-old Arizona student who was strip-searched in 2003 by an administrator who suspected that she was carrying ibuprofen pills.
Fairfax School Board members have debated over time whether to allow students to carry Tylenol or other over-the-counter medicines without registering them with the school nurse. County policy permits cough drops to be carried on campus, for instance, but not shared. Arlington County policies permit high school students to carry over-the-counter pain relievers. A 2006 state law in Maryland overturned some local rules requiring a doctor’s note for children to use sunscreen at school.
Health advocates say that harsh penalties for students who take birth-control pills at school conflicts with a campaign schools are waging against teen pregnancy.A small portion of school health clinics across the country distribute birth-control pills to teens. But in Fairfax, even carrying the pills in a backpack is counted among the most serious offenses in the Student Responsibilities and Rights handbook.
During two weeks of watching television game shows and trying to keep up with homework online, the Fairfax teen, an honor student and lettered athlete, had time to study the handbook closely. If she had been caught high on LSD, heroin or another illegal drug, she found, she would have been suspended for five days. Taking her prescribed birth-control pill on campus drew the same punishment as bringing a gun to school would have.
Shouldn’t parents have the right to decide whether their teenage daughter can protect herself from an unwanted pregnancy, or is abortion the better option? A “just say no” approach to this is a little naive.
There is something disquieting about a situation where a medically unqualified person is given ‘permission’ or a ‘responsibility’ for taking medical decisions affecting a minor for whom they are in loco parentis.
Seems to me that any teacher, or school employee accepting responsibility for taking ANY medical decision for a pupil or underage student should start by ascertaining their legal position. Such persons could find themselves facing a mandatory long prison sentence should things go wrong and medically approved/prescribed drug dosage is overruled. School rules, by the way, do NOT in law re-allocate responsibility for an offence. Generally, another cannot instruct you to commit an offence in law. Never could. Where will the school officers/directors be when the court starts its finding out process of who is responsible. I can really see school board members offering to go to prison, or pay millions of dollars in fines should matters go pear shaped – can’t you?
Not directly confronting the birth pill question but pointing out that there are issues other than the apparent one.
McCullough, is that you on the right?
#42, djrob,
No, he is the one taking that picture of you last birthday.
# 43, Mr. Fusion
What a lame answer.
#44, bjrob
It was a lame question.
my daughter was caught giving my vicodin to two girls at school who asked her for it. she regretted it and was scared. now she did make a mistake and should have a consequence, that i agree with, but she did it to try to have a friend. we think too much and have a tendency to be too blunt with people. she was suspended for ten days with a possibility of expulsion, and voluntarily signed up for a drug class.