North Hunterdon Regional High School has been under fire lately for the handling of some kids at the prom who were apparently drinking:
Administrators were following school district policy when they pulled the students out of last Friday's dance and required them to go to a hospital for blood tests, Hughes said. School board policy does not provide for use of an on-site Breathalyzer or oral swab tests, he said.
Kids? Drinking at a prom? Unheard of! No wonder parents are upset! That would NEVER happen, right? Well, MY kid wouldn't do it, anyway...
So the parents of some of the kids raised a stink, and demanded an apology because their kids of course were completely innocent. Ya-huh. They want a public apology, preferably at the upcoming graduation:
Yay! Principal Michael Hughes!They may be waiting a while.
"I'll take the heat," Principal Michael Hughes said yesterday. "If it means everyone made it home safely? I'll take the heat."
As well they should not. Look, kids do stupid things. Some of these kids were checked out negative for alcohol, some were positive and were suspended. So, hopefully the ones who were clean learned a lesson- stay away from jerks who are doing things they aren't supposed to do or you may get caught up in their mess. But the parents who are demanding an apology and reimbursement for all prom expenses? Dream on. You aren't owed anything. Be glad your kid didn't get a ride home from one who was drinking, and sleep well knowing that tonight."I think (the incident) was way blown out of proportion," (Asst. Superintendent Frank) Helies said yesterday, adding the emotional comments directed at the school board Tuesday night were "normal parent complaining."
And while the board is still investigating the incident, the district "probably just won't have a response," Helies said.
Ahh, but here's where the professional muckrakers step in. NJ101.whine has decided to aggrivate the situation to get attention, the way they do with everything else:
So, what these kids will be shown here is a gimme-gimme attitude; when things don't exactly go your way, you should react by demanding things, disrespecting people and pushing for attention. Remember, kids learn from everything they see, not just what you teach them.Feeding the controversy, 101.5 FM radio personalities "The Jersey Guys" are staging a second prom -- all-expenses paid -- for the North Hunterdon senior class, co-host Craig Carton said.
Students proven to have consumed alcohol on the night of the original prom will not be allowed, he said.
"We obviously take underage drinking very seriously ... but we're not going to pass judgment on any of the kids there," Carton said, adding the dance will be "100 percent alcohol free," with security officers searching the students and sniffing their breath as they enter the event. "Prom 2" will take place Friday, June 23 at the Nash Dance Center in Randolph Township in Morris County.
Listeners of the afternoon show have volunteered to provide a variety of services, including a disc jockey, photographer and free beauty salon appointments, Carton said. Donations are expected to cover 90 percent of the costs, he said, but he declined to provide an estimated total bill.
Carton and co-host Ray Rossi -- who have made headlines in recent years for on-air attacks against former Gov. Richard Codey and Edison Mayor Jun Choi -- are also encouraging North Hunterdon students to protest their classmates' treatment by standing in unison at graduation and turning their backs when Hughes speaks.
5 comments:
"Carton and co-host Ray Rossi -- who have made headlines in recent years for on-air attacks against former Gov. Richard Codey and Edison Mayor Jun Choi."
Naturally, the media couldn't get this report correct. Those two buttheads ddn't "attack" Codey or Choi. The one clown made idiotic remarks about women with mental health problems and marijuana and Codey became very upset with them over it. They made racists remarks about Koreans while Choi, a Korean, was running for Mayor of Edison. That's a little different from "attacking" Codey and Choi.
They were damned rude to Choi, well, to all Asian-Americans, specifically Asian-New Jersians. Transscript is here.
Lou,
Tests say five of the kids were drinking, and the rest weren't.
I don't listen to nj101.5 any more. (I used to be forced to by a chef I worked under, who had to have talk radio on in the kitchen all the time.) They are shock jocks, it's true; they go out of their way to sensationalize anything they can get their hands on. They spend a lot of time playing down the truth so they can focus on whatever grabs the biggest response. They make a living out of getting people mad by keeping them misinformed, and I find that pathetic.
I heard about this story, but only because my friend teaches at that school. I also hear that she believes those kids are to blame, because she knows those kids. And now they are getting rewarded for negative behaviors while the principal might be reprimanded for what was right?
Where is the justice in this world?
I never thought of that... and prom dresses are expensive...
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