Pubdate: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 Source: Tuscaloosa News, The (AL) Copyright: 2003 The Tuscaloosa News Contact: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1665 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 ( Students - United States) SCHOOL OFFICIALS ARE OVERREACTING TO DRUGS The cost of prescription drugs isn't the only problem that legal medications pose for Alabama. Some of the state's schools are taking an irrational approach to prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Schools have a good reason to be concerned about the medications their students use. Illegally obtained prescription drugs sometimes fall into young people's hands. Other students, not mindful of directions or dosage recommendations for medicines purchased legally, can be harmed if the school has no policy in place to protect them. However, the case reported this week involving a sophomore in Jefferson County who took a Motrin pill for menstrual cramps suggests a rigidity in policy enforcement that far exceeds the bounds of common sense. A teacher saw the student swallow the pill at a water fountain and reported her to the administration. The school prohibits any student from possessing prescription or over-the-counter medication without signed administrative permission. The student argued that she was too embarrassed to ask her male drivers' education teacher if she could go to the school office for permission to take the ibuprofen. But the school administration suspended her, mandating a month's mandatory attendance at an alternative school. The punishment for the student, who says she has a clean discipline record and makes good grades at school, is clearly an overreaction. Again, schools are rightfully concerned about medications. But similar cases of irrationally harsh enforcement have been reported in other parts of the state. If these cases are typical of the way public school systems handle drug policy, it would be well for the state Department of Education to work with local administrators to develop a set of guidelines than can be enforced more sensibly. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin