Breathalyzers and Proms

[Galahad]

I learned recently that most schools in our area have been using Breathalyzers at proms for a few years now. Some only use them when they think there is a reason. Some use them for everybody entering the prom. Do your kids' schools use Breathalyzers at their proms?

 

[mrsltg]

I don't think so (my kids are little). Wow! I'd be hot about this...

 

[NookOfTheNorth]

Our school uses them as needed for most dances; frequently our liasion officer is one of the chaperones. It is simply a security/safety measure as all of these kids are underage and it is a school-sponsored function. I have been here for 8 years, and I have heard of no parent complaints.

 

[Galahad]

Our school uses them as needed for most dances; frequently our liasion officer is one of the chaperones. It is simply a security/safety measure as all of these kids are underage and it is a school-sponsored function. I have been here for 8 years, and I have heard of no parent complaints.

Yeah. I was very happy to hear they are doing it at DS's school proms/dances.

 

[poohandwendy]

No, they do not do it at our school currently, but I think it is a GREAT idea. Just the deterrent factor alone makes it a good idea, IMO.

 

[declansdad]

Wow! I'd be hot about this...

Why?

 

[golfgal]

I don't think so (my kids are little). Wow! I'd be hot about this...

I don't understand why you would be hot about this, do you know how many kids drink and drive on prom night and how many kids are KILLED on prom night? Our high school uses them and I am happy about that. When I was in high school they had them and used them on kids they suspected may be under the influence. If you were caught with ANY alcohol in your system you were brought to the police station, fingerprinted and your parents were called to come pick you up. That sure kept a lot of kids from drinking.

 

[mrsltg]

I'd be hot about it because the school is assuming the child has broken the law when there is no evidence to support it. Further, who is administering it and what is done with the results? I blew a .02 once after having taken cold medicine. I was of legal drinking age so it was no problem. What if a child at the prom did the same thing? They should have a BAC of 0. Suddenly they blow something more. Do cops get called? Does the child get arrested? Do the parents get arrested? Does the child get denied entry to their prom because of this? Assuming kids are doing wrong is ridiculous. If they come in, slurring words, staggering, and behaving in a way that shows them to be drunk then they should be dealt with. Making kids pass a blow test to get into the prom is unbelievable.

As far as the deterrant... ok, they don't drink BEFORE the prom. WOOHOO. What about after?

 

[Galahad]

Do cops get called?

No

Does the child get arrested?

No

Do the parents get arrested?

No

Does the child get denied entry to their prom because of this?

Yes

Assuming kids are doing wrong is ridiculous.

It doesn't assume that. It protects the kids (they are kids) and the school (because there ARE lawyers).

 

[Dan Murphy]

Yes, and it is a very positive step in the right direction.

 

[Pam]

Our high school prom (held last week) does not do this.

The Grand March is held for parents and friends at 5:00 pm in the HS Auditorium. The prom attendees drive to school and line up to do the March. Immediately following the Grand March they board buses to be taken to the Prom - the location changes every year and usually takes 30-60 minutes to get there. No one ever takes a limo to Prom, because it would be just a huge waste of $$$$$.

The After-Prom used to be held immediately following the Prom, which typically ends around 11:30. Last week the couples arrived back at the HS at 12:30 am. Usually the After-Prom was held at the same location as the Prom. Students had the choice of staying for the After-Prom or being bused back to the HS. If you do not have a Senior License, a parent or guardian must be at the school to drive you home. This is strictly enforced via the Prom chaperones.

For the past 3 years, there has been no After-Prom. Some of the kids are having After-Prom parties at their parents' homes. My DD never attended any of these - if there wasn't an After-Prom, she was usually home and in bed by 1:00 am at the latest.

 

[mrsltg]

So the school knows the child has ILLEGALY consumed alcohol and then turns them on the street??? I think this is where the lawyers would have a field day. Assuming the child consumed enough to blow .06, gets denied entry to the prom due to having an adult administer a breathalyzer, gets turned out on the street, gets back in the car, drives away, and kills themselves and someone else. "Why wasn't Johnny at the prom?", "Because Mrs. Smith gave him a breathalyzer and he was nearly legally drunk so he was turned away from adult supervision and told to leave....." I don't buy the legal protection aspect. They know the kid consumed, they have to report.

Back to my personal example - cold medicine makes you blow. Now you have a kid being denied entry to their prom - in front of their peers - because they have they have a cold?

 

[golfgal]

I'd be hot about it because the school is assuming the child has broken the law when there is no evidence to support it. Further, who is administering it and what is done with the results? I blew a .02 once after having taken cold medicine. I was of legal drinking age so it was no problem. What if a child at the prom did the same thing? They should have a BAC of 0. Suddenly they blow something more. Do cops get called? Does the child get arrested? Do the parents get arrested? Does the child get denied entry to their prom because of this? Assuming kids are doing wrong is ridiculous. If they come in, slurring words, staggering, and behaving in a way that shows them to be drunk then they should be dealt with. Making kids pass a blow test to get into the prom is unbelievable.

As far as the deterrant... ok, they don't drink BEFORE the prom. WOOHOO. What about after?

I know the prom at our school is an all night affair, the kids have dinner, the grand march, dance and then at midnight they have a party all at the school. Once they are in the doors at the start of prom, they are not allowed out again unless a parent picks them up. If they don't pass the breathalyzer, they are not allowed into the prom.

The police department does the testing. I am sure they can differentiate between a kid on cold meds and one that has been drinking. There are other tests they can do.

 

[Galahad]

So the school knows the child has ILLEGALY consumed alcohol and then turns them on the street???

Nope. Thier parents are called and the kid stays with the chaperone until the parents show up to take them home.

 

[golfgal]

So the school knows the child has ILLEGALY consumed alcohol and then turns them on the street??? I think this is where the lawyers would have a field day. Assuming the child consumed enough to blow .06, gets denied entry to the prom due to having an adult administer a breathalyzer, gets turned out on the street, gets back in the car, drives away, and kills themselves and someone else. "Why wasn't Johnny at the prom?", "Because Mrs. Smith gave him a breathalyzer and he was nearly legally drunk so he was turned away from adult supervision and told to leave....." I don't buy the legal protection aspect. They know the kid consumed, they have to report.

Back to my personal example - cold medicine makes you blow. Now you have a kid being denied entry to their prom - in front of their peers - because they have they have a cold?

They don't turn them out on the street, they call their parents and make them come get them. The police do the testing, not "some adult". Think about this situation for a minute and see how uneducated your answers really are about this.

 

[mrsltg]

I know the prom at our school is an all night affair, the kids have dinner, the grand march, dance and then at midnight they have a party all at the school. Once they are in the doors at the start of prom, they are not allowed out again unless a parent picks them up. If they don't pass the breathalyzer, they are not allowed into the prom.

The police department does the testing. I am sure they can differentiate between a kid on cold meds and one that has been drinking. There are other tests they can do.

My proms and the proms in this area are not that way. There is the prom and then the kids go off. The drinking was done afterwards.

Using the way your area handles it, what difference if they come drunk? They're not driving. They're not going to hurt anyone so no one is being saved by the kids completely abandoning their due process rights.

Further, if the police are administering the test, they have to arrest a kid who has broken the law. A kid who blows with alcohol content (meaning someone under 21) is has illegally consumed. Now the kid who had a glass of champagne with their parents before leaving the house is a criminal. Granted, the police may let it slide but they also may not. What then?

And what other tests are you referring to? Should the kid roll up their sleeve for a more thorough blood test? Maybe they'll have to walk a straight line. Will the young ladies be allowed to take off their 4"-make-this-dress-look-great-can't-actually-walk shoes first?

I disagree whole-heartedly with the entire idea of treating the kids with suspicion rather than trust. We're not talking a roadside stop, we're talking about kids entering a ballroom on foot. What's the purpose of the breathalyzer? It's obviously not for saftey's sake. If that were the case the school would have the parents bring the kids to the school parking lot and put them on a bus to the prom. From there the kids would never be on their own. When prom was over the parents would have to pick the kids up and bring them home. This is another case of "look what we can do to make it look like we are doing something," when in reality nothing is accomplished.

 

[rascalmom]

No breathalizer at dd's prom last week. They had the 3 vice-principals (who are very buff & stern) standing at the door shaking hands & greeting each kid at the only entrance. I imagine any that showed signs of intoxication would have been dealt with - parents aren't allowed to chaperone, it is all done by teachers & administrators.

Interesting that some schools are doing that though - I would not object if it was started here.

 

[DVCLiz]

I have to laugh at your responses, mrsltg...you have no idea how serious this problem is until you have kids in the trenches, so to speak. Believe me, I am extremely grateful that DD's school has something like this in place. There's no way any kid would be denied access to the prom and then turned loose - parents are ALWAYS called and told to come pick their kids up - and if your kid goes to the prom, you've received this information in advance and signed a permission slip, giving your phone number so you can be reached that night.

There are lots of personal freedoms worth standing up for over the course of your kid's life, but drinking on prom night isn't one of them. An easy weay to make sure your child's "cold medicine" doesn't cause a problem is to personally supervise them and walk them in to make sure there are no problems, but to assume that students tanked up on cold medicine are unjustly being denied entry to the prom is making me snicker...

 

[Castlebound]

I am all in favor of it. They test at the private high school here but not the public, "yet". In our area the teens leave Prom and go to either the all night safe prom or private parties. Schools want to get away from the image that it is ok to drink on prom night. The last year I went to prom was the last year that they had engraved wine glasses as party favors. The next year they had nice photo albums instead. Underage drinking is against the law and schools want to do all they can to stop it. They do not have control over what the kids do after prom and they know that. Parents are ALWAYS responsible for their children's actions and they should know what their teens are doing that night. Yes I think that it deters teens from drinking before hand. How many angry dates do you think there would be if they got turned away from prom because their idiot date drank before picking them up?

 

[DVCLiz]

My proms and the proms in this area are not that way. There is the prom and then the kids go off. The drinking was done afterwards.

Using the way your area handles it, what difference if they come drunk? They're not driving. They're not going to hurt anyone so no one is being saved by the kids completely abandoning their due process rights.

Further, if the police are administering the test, they have to arrest a kid who has broken the law. A kid who blows with alcohol content (meaning someone under 21) is has illegally consumed. Now the kid who had a glass of champagne with their parents before leaving the house is a criminal. Granted, the police may let it slide but they also may not. What then?

And what other tests are you referring to? Should the kid roll up their sleeve for a more thorough blood test? Maybe they'll have to walk a straight line. Will the young ladies be allowed to take off their 4"-make-this-dress-look-great-can't-actually-walk shoes first?

I disagree whole-heartedly with the entire idea of treating the kids with suspicion rather than trust. We're not talking a roadside stop, we're talking about kids entering a ballroom on foot. What's the purpose of the breathalyzer? It's obviously not for saftey's sake. If that were the case the school would have the parents bring the kids to the school parking lot and put them on a bus to the prom. From there the kids would never be on their own. When prom was over the parents would have to pick the kids up and bring them home. This is another case of "look what we can do to make it look like we are doing something," when in reality nothing is accomplished.

OK, I'm puzzled that there is anyone with children who would make your first statement - "What difference if they come drunk?" I can't think of any school in America that would sanction their students showing up drunk at ANY school function. It's illegal for ALL high school students to drink - why would responsible administrators choose to simply look the other way knowing that students were drunk??? I've paid a big dry cleaning bill because someone who was too drunk at the prom threw up on DDs dress in the girl's room - that may not be "hurting" anyone, but why should the students who followed the rules be made to endure vomiting students?

Kids who had a glass of champagne with their parents may or may not blow the number required to be arrested, by why would a thinking parent take that chance? It's still illegal to give kids alcohol - it's just a bad parenting decision to support it, plain and simple. If you give your kids alcohol before the prom, then you deserve the consequences.

Our school chooses to monitor this student behavior because they do not want to assume liability for any student who becomes ill or otherwise has something happen because of drunkenness. Again, when your kids are old enough to go through this themselves, you'll either understand this more clearly, or you'll be one of the parents who lets them drink before the prom, in which case you have bigger problems than can be solved on a message board.