Drinking becoming problem at area schools

An incident Thursday morning involving two Pelham High School students who drank enough vodka to land one in the hospital with alcohol poisoning highlights a troubling trend that should not be taken lightly, area school officials say.

According to police, a 16-year-old boy was rushed by ambulance to Lowell General Hospital, where he was treated for alcohol poisoning after becoming inebriated and unresponsive at 11 a.m. He was released from the hospital Friday and charges against him are pending, police said,

The second boy, also 16, was charged with internal possession of alcohol and is due to appear in Salem District Court later this month, according to Pelham police Sgt. Gary Fisher.

But this is just the latest in a number of cases at local schools, some of which involved even younger students.

Pelham High Principal Dorothy Mohr's message home warning parents about the harm that can result from bad decisions echoed communications sent from other local schools.

At Hampstead Middle School, the nurse sent a girl to the hospital after she arrived drunk at a dance in January. Principal Patti Grassbaugh said while she hasn't dealt with a second case this year, even an isolated incident is cause for great concern.

Alcohol poisoning, she stressed, can be fatal.

"Most middle school or high school children do not realize this," she said. "It could be a one-time event if a child drank enough."

In December, two Pinkerton Academy students drank whiskey at a bus stop, according to police, landing a 14-year-old at Parkland Medical Center in Derry. The second student, 16, was charged with internal possession of alcohol.

More recently at West Running Brook Middle School in Derry, two 13-year-old girls were accused of drinking whiskey from a water bottle during the school day.

And in perhaps the most dramatic case, a 14-year-old girl was rushed to Boston Medical Center one morning in January 2006 after she was found drunk and unconscious in a snowbank behind Londonderry High School.

Grassbaugh said one important step in solving the problem is educating parents.

"We do a lot in the school educating children," she said. "We need to do more educating parents as well."

In the wake of the Hampstead Middle School incident, Grassbaugh said the guidance department and Parent-Teacher Association implemented awareness programs to help parents recognize the signs their child may be using alcohol or drugs.

School officials in Londonderry have taken more drastic measures: The School Board approved a policy in June 2006 that allowed the high school to buy two Alcoblow devices, which are similar to Breathalyzers.

The machines, each costing $250, display an amber or red light if students who blow into it have alcohol in their bodies. Londonderry is the first district in the state whose administration chose to perform breath-alcohol tests on students they suspect are drunk in school or at after-school events.

If students fail the test, they would be suspended for up to 10 days. If they refuse the test, the punishment could be the same.

Principal Jim Elefante says the policy is paying off.

"Last year, we had a number of incidents outside school and a couple at school dances," he said. "The School Board sent a clear message: We will not condone drinking. There's no tolerance, and we will take every step to prevent it."

Still, Elefante said, a breath-alcohol test alone cannot solve the problem.

"Overall, the kids do get the message," he said. "But sometimes, kids make choices no matter what we do."

James Wilhelm, assistant principal at Pelham High School, said school officials are talking with the parents of both boys involved in Thursday's incident.

"Drinking at school is very serious," Wilhelm said. "There will be consequences."

Neither Wilhelm nor Mohr could recall an incident as severe as Thursday's.

They don't plan to acquire a Breathalyzer, Wilhelm said, because they can rely on Pelham police, who are close by if they need the equipment.

Fisher, the police sergeant in Pelham, said police have dealt with underage drinking parties that resulted in alcohol poisoning, but cases of youngsters getting drunk in school are more rare.

Derry police Capt. Vernon Thomas doubts that cases of alcohol abuse at school are on the rise.

"There's no more this year than any other," he said.

Eagle-Tribune