Virginia School System Moves To Expel Teenage Girl For Taking Birth Control Pill at Her High School

The Fairfax County school system has added yet another example of how ridiculous the “zero-tolerance” drug policy can become when officials refuse to apply a modicum of common sense or judgment. A teenage girl at Oakton High School took her pill at lunch and was immediately seized by a teacher, accused of violating the drug policy, suspended for two weeks, and recommended for expulsion — even though the school acknowledges that she was taking a prescription pill.

For the record, my children attend the Fairfax County public school system.

The actions taken in this case are the product of “zero-tolerance” rules that teachers have defined as “zero judgment” in suspending children in some cases for possession of an aspirin. The Supreme Court will be considering a case this month involving the strip searching of a 13-year-old child in Arizona in search of ibuprofen tablets.

Fairfax will not even allow over-the-counter painkillers at the school without registering them with the school nurse (Arlington allows such pain killers). In Maryland, it took legislation to overturn a local rules requiring a doctor’s note for sunscreen at the school.

It turns out that it would have been better for the teenager in this case to have been found with heroin — which would have lead to a suspension of five days rather than two weeks. The girl is an honor student with no discipline problems and an athlete. Better to expel her, however.

According to a 2008 survey, more than a quarter of Fairfax teenagers, and 44 percent of 12th-graders are sexually active. In this case, the girl’s parents agreed with the decision to take the birth control.

For the full story, click here.