It is sad to see that the "zero common sense" bug has apparently bitten Newbury Park High School administrators.
Thirty-two seniors participated in a "toast," involving little more than a sip of champagne, with their parents' permission, prior to boarding the bus to the senior prom and, upon arrival at the venue, were all given breathalyzers which, of course, showed a positive hit for "trace amounts" of alcohol.
High school administrators who, even with the assistance of a breathalyzer, apparently cannot tell the difference between students showing trace amounts of alcohol and students showing up to the prom intoxicated, have invoked their "zero tolerance" policy to deny the seniors the privilege of attending the school's graduation ceremony.
Even after having confirmed the circumstances of the situation and the parents' approval of the toast, school officials have stuck to their "zero tolerance policy."
What that indicates is a rather shocking inability or stubborn reluctance to apply even a minimal level of common sense to the situation. This conveys to our young people that the adults in this situation, despite being well-educated academically, are so lacking in common sense that they can't tell the difference between inappropriate alcohol abuse and a parent-approved ceremonial toast. It is rather disconcerting that these same folks are responsible for the daily supervision of our teenagers.
Zero tolerance policies have been used in recent times, as they have been in this case, for some rather "brainless" decisions. At a minimum, we should expect our high school administrators to use a lot more common sense than has been demonstrated in this case. After all, it's not as if the students were found to be in possession of Tums, Midol or fingernail clippers.
-- Don Brunson, Simi Valley