School to Students: Go Ahead and Let Your Friends Drive Drunk

When zero tolerance meets guilt by association:

Two weeks ago, Erin received a call from a friend at a party who was too drunk to drive. Erin drove to Boxford after work to pick up her friend. Moments after she arrived, the cops arrived too and busted several kids for underage possession of alcohol. A North Andover High School honor student, Erin was cleared by police, who agreed she had not been drinking and was not in possession of alcohol. But Andover High told Erin she was in violation of the district's zero tolerance policy against alcohol and drug use. In the middle of her senior year, Erin was demoted from captain of the volleyball team and told she would be suspended from playing for five games.

North Andover High School: So committed to fighting teenage alcohol abuse, it'll punish you if you help stop a drunken teen from taking the wheel.

Update: The district superintendent denies that zero tolerance was a factor in this case. If that's true, it makes the school look even worse. More here.

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