The Boston Globe reports on a high school’s new strategy for combating underage alcohol abuse – use an alcohol test in school. It is a novel approach and seems set to be approved.
Foxborough High School Principal Jeffrey Theodoss claims that chaperones and teachers spend an excessive amount of time trying to figure out if a student is under the influence. Defending his use of a breathaylzer in school, he says ”A Breathalyzer just becomes a clean way of following through. And if we’re wrong? We will apologize.”
12 incidents in the past academic year convinced people that an alcohol test could be useful for the school. The plan has support from parents, but some are uncertain. One parent would prefer that an alcohol test is only deployed at a school event, not in the regular school day setting. Another parent claims that she can’t imagine parents thinking this type of alcohol testing would be an invasion of privacy.
The alcohol tests that will be used are very fast and will register a positive for alcohol if the alcohol blood concentration is over 0.02%. According to the proposed policy, a student who refuses to take the test will be disciplined, and of course disciplinary action awaits the student that fails. No police action on a student that has failed the test seems to be proposed at this time.
The technology being used by this high school is certainly not rare! You can buy a disposable breath alcohol test or a disposable saliva alcohol test to determine whether someone has been drinking at Home Health Testing. They are very affordable and easy to use. The Breathscan breath alcohol tests come in 0.02% and 0.08% models. You don’t need to go out and buy a breathalyzer to monitor alcohol use successfully. Instead for under $30 dollars you can confidentially order 10 tests online and monitor alcohol use not just effectively but cost-effectively.
