Teen punished for giving drunken friend a ride home


Recommended Posts

When Massachusetts high school senior Erin Cox went to pick up an intoxicated classmate from a party, she thought she was doing the right thing. However, administrators at North Andover High School are punishing her for the deed, citing the school?s zero tolerance policy on drugs on alcohol. :wacko:

Cox, an honor student and volleyball star, received a cell phone message from an intoxicated friend asking for a ride home from a party earlier this month, according to the Boston Herald. However, Cox arrived at the party at the same time as the police, who were arresting a slew of students for underage drinking.

While Cox was cleared by police who recognized her sobriety, her school has given her a harsh punishment. The 17-year-old was stripped of her title as captain of the volleyball team, and she was suspended from five games.

?But I wasn?t drinking,? Cox told the Boston Herald. ?And I felt like going to get her was the right thing to do. Saving her from getting in the car when she was intoxicated and hurt herself or getting in the car with someone else who was drinking. I?d give her a ride home.?

The Cox family filed a lawsuit against the school on Friday in an attempt to get officials to reverse the punishment. However, the district court judge ruled the court did not have jurisdiction over the issue, local station WBZ-TV reports.

?If a kid asks for help from a friend, you don?t want that kid to say ?I?m sorry I can?t help you. I might end up in trouble at school,?? Cox family attorney Wendy Murphy told the outlet.

The Cox family is now hoping that pressure from supporters will persuade school officials to reverse their decision.

more

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hate moronic officials like this, despite pointing out she has nothing to with alcohol or drugs they'll just stock their fingers in their ears and say "lalalalala zero tolerance lalalalala"

 

Being cleared by the police isn't even seen as enough. 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A kid that went to the high school i did had gotten back from feeding homeless people and the police were there searching every car that came into the parking. He had a shotgun shell in his car from hunting but no guns or any other full shells and was suspended indefinitely so they could figure out what else to do until his family filed a law suite against the school and the school backed down. He was a straight A student as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sometimes doing the right thing does come with consequences.  In this case, the consequences are minor compared to possibly saving lives.  If I was that teen I would feel good in knowing I did the correct thing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We really need a good house cleaning of these idiots who are running our schools.

School administration is where the ######ed up people with authority issues go that can't get jobs elsewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While it sucks that the school was stupid she should get over it.  In the real world no one is going to give to ###### whether you were captain of a high school volleyball team or not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While it sucks that the school was stupid she should get over it.  In the real world no one is going to give to ****s whether you were captain of a high school volleyball team or not.

Ever heard of sports scholarships? That kind of stuff does matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh well, it's not like being captain of the volleyball team counts in real life.  Just goes to show how petty some public school officials are getting.  Personally, I'm getting tired of hearing about kids being punished for everything from wearing NRA t-shirts to giving drunk friends a ride home, but I'm not sure how you would tackle an issue like "pettiness", unless maybe you made a commercial telling school officials to stop being little bitches.

 

Hope this girl gets everything corrected in her favor, it's really kind of nonsense that they're punishing her for trying to do the right thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not choosing the side of the school, but couldn't it be that schools act this silly because in the past they got sued by parents for silly things like this.

Kids drink booze during lunch and get caught by the cops, parents sue the school for not looking after the kids better, now you end up with stupid rules like this.

 

Wouldn't surprise me, they are sue happy in the USA, it's a different culture all together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i gave my buddy a ride home from the bank once. He was drunk, high, and just robbed the place. But why should I be punished? All i did was drive him.... /s

 

Is this your buddy, maybe he won't mention his get-away driver - http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/calgary/Calgary+accused+robbing+same+bank+twice/9011690/story.html                           /s

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i gave my buddy a ride home from the bank once. He was drunk, high, and just robbed the place. But why should I be punished? All i did was drive him.... /s

I was a taxi driver and drove some drunk people home when they called me, so that they wouldn't kill themselves or others that they encountered on the road while intoxicated. Why haven't the police arrested me yet?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was a taxi driver and drove some drunk people home when they called me, so that they wouldn't kill themselves or others that they encountered on the road while intoxicated. Why haven't the police arrested me yet?

the story was written like the way you just did too, but behind the scenes she was being an accessory by sneaking him out to avoid punishment, effectively becoming part of the publishable action.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the story was written like the way you just did too, but behind the scenes she was being an accessory by sneaking him out to avoid punishment, effectively becoming part of the publishable action.

 

 

The kid asked for a ride home, not a ride to the party. I know you put the sarcasm mark down on the previous post but that's still silly to make the comparison and assumption that she is some how an accessory so some other kid wouldn't get in trouble. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the story was written like the way you just did too, but behind the scenes she was being an accessory by sneaking him out to avoid punishment, effectively becoming part of the publishable action.

Under the law, the driver in this case is absolved of any responsibility. Quite frankly, legally it is irrelevant what you've deemed the situation to be. If you're somehow uncertain, maybe you should like to defer to the police opinion, which "recognized her sobriety". The school is implementing punishment above and beyond the law here like a bunch of god damned idiots because somehow the rules have gone and scooped out their brains.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i gave my buddy a ride home from the bank once. He was drunk, high, and just robbed the place. But why should I be punished? All i did was drive him.... /s

 

In that situation you would be aiding in committing a felony. The girl in the article wasn't aiding in getting her friend drunk, she just drove her home. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The kid asked for a ride home, not a ride to the party. I know you put the sarcasm mark down on the previous post but that's still silly to make the comparison and assumption that she is some how an accessory so some other kid wouldn't get in trouble. 

she aided her friend to escape detection/punishment

 

Under the law, the driver in this case is absolved of any responsibility. Quite frankly, legally it is irrelevant what you've deemed the situation to be. If you're somehow uncertain, maybe you should like to defer to the police opinion, which "recognized her sobriety". The school is implementing punishment above and beyond the law here like a bunch of god damned idiots because somehow the rules have gone and scooped out their brains.

its not a legal thing, its about sneaking her friend out to avoid police detection

 

In that situation you would be aiding in committing a felony. The girl in the article wasn't aiding in getting her friend drunk, she just drove her home. 

you're right, it wasn't a felony, she just got caught helping her friend to avoid suspension.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More to the point, being high and robbing a place are both criminal offences.

 

The drunk girl in this story didn't commit an offence that has accessory implications, she merely breached guidelines that weren't even related to her (the sport team handbook), which resulted in the friend picking her up getting done for it.

i gave my buddy a ride home from the bank once. He was drunk, high, and just robbed the place. But why should I be punished? All i did was drive him.... /s

^ This, is ****ing stupid, and completely unrelated..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

its not a legal thing, its about sneaking her friend out to avoid police detection

Under the law, the driver in this case is absolved of any responsibility. Quite frankly, legally it is irrelevant what you've deemed the situation to be. If you're somehow uncertain, maybe you should like to defer to the police opinion, which "recognized her sobriety".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.