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US: N.J. school to test for weekend drinking
PEQUANNOCK, N.J. - Teens who drink alcohol could be caught three days later under a high school's new testing policy for students.
The test, which will be given randomly to students at Pequannock Township High School, can detect whether alcohol was consumed up to 80 hours earlier.
Pequannock Superintendent Larrie Reynolds said the policy approved last week should be a deterrent to students who feel peer pressure to drink.
Under the program, students who test positive will not be kicked off teams or barred from extracurricular activities, Reynolds said. Instead, they will receive counseling - and their parents will be notified.
"Most kids who think they can get away with it might be tempted to stop and think about it," he said.
The test costs will be paid with federal grants, Reynolds said.
Urine screenings look for ethyl glucuronide, produced by the body after it metabolizes alcohol. School officials acknowledge the test is sensitive, and false positive readings can be the result of using products containing ethanol, including mouthwash and Balsamic vinegar.
But Reynolds said in order for students to test positive, they would generally have had to consume the equivalent of one or two drinks.
Other districts already use the test. Middletown began using it last spring for students suspected of using drugs and alcohol. This month, the district expanded it to include a random pool of about 1,800 students.
Critics have said the testing does not work and invades students' privacy.
"Medical care and treatment are issues between parents and children," said Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.
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Posted in: News by NewsBot on March 13, 2007 @ 12:00 AMTags: School
6 Responses to “US: N.J. school to test for weekend drinking”
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by what right do they try to police what students do over the weekend. A school has no buisiness in their students' bedrooms.
Yeah, sure. Instead of getting new textbooks or something that will BENEFIT students, they want to see how they have fun over the fucking weekend. They want to govern something they have no goddamn place in. another point to prove that we have NO rights. I mean do they even get a goddamn consent form from parents? And it doesn't seem that the results are in the least bit reliable. "You need to have an equivalent of two drinks" what the fuck? TWO DRINKS! TWO FUCKING DRINKS IS ALL IT TAKES TO GET A NICE LITTLE SEAT IN A FUCKING COUNSELOR'S OFFICE!
Shit i live in a little town that noone even hardly knows where it is we drink a little on the weekend to blow off steam and relax. the teachers are one of the things that drives us to drink. they torture us all week then test us to see if we did anything to have fun over the weekend.that is a load of bull.
I'm calling this as what it is: A violation of human rights.
they don't have the right to police us. We are not their prisoners. That is like saying anyone who eats pizza will have a seat in the counselor's office. What if they have to drink in their religion that is more than 2 drinks. They are trying to limit us on how we blow steam. I may not drink but if someone says that you can't go on youtube or something I do to blow steam from stress I get from them they will suffer, Be Rebellious and make it seem like a necessity to drink.
Wow...
The kid's parents might have let them drink, the kids that drink too much do that because of stuff like this. If it wasn't such a big deal, it wouldn't be such a big problem.
This is BS, they have no right to do this crap...