Drunk pupils sent home
Parents angry school did not tell them about action first
Some parents of Wakatipu High School pupils are shocked the school sent teenagers home after they were caught drinking on Friday, without notifying them.
Thirteen pupils students were stood down for five days each after they were caught drinking alcohol at the school’s annual Sports Participation Day on Friday. The Southland Times has been told some pupils were so intoxicated they were vomiting, slurring their words and stumbling.
Two mothers have contacted The Southland Times with concerns the teenagers were sent home without their parents being contacted. The school told the pupils to inform the parents of the matter during the weekend and the parents would be contacted by the school on Monday. One mother said her 17-year-old son did not tell her and she learnt about it from someone else, while another relative heard about it while at the hairdresser on Sunday. ‘‘I rang the school two times on Monday morning and didn’t hear anything until Monday afternoon.’’
She said her son had since claimed that he did not consume any alcohol on the day but was not given a breath or blood test and that opportunity had now been lost.
The mother of a 15-year-old girl said she was contacted by the school about 3pm, despite the fact the school had known about the drinking much earlier in the day.
She questioned how the other pupils got home and whether they were safe.
Speaking from a conference on Waiheke Island yesterday acting principal Paul O’connor said he was aware of only two of the pupils contacting their parents before leaving school on Friday afternoon but said no-one was put a risk. ‘‘I met each of the children involved on Friday and while they had been drinking, when they got to see me it was some hours afterwards and I can say categorically there weren’t any children sent home who was in any way under the weather.’’
He was surprised a pupil had claimed he had not been drinking because all of the pupils students involved had been candid in describing what happened that day.
‘‘But the last thing I want to see is an injustice done. If we’ve got it wrong and someone fessed up to something they didn’t do . . . then they have an opportunity to address that. The door is not closed,’’ Mr O’connor said.
Sending the pupils home to front up to their parents was a tactic he had used before with senior students at other high schools. ‘‘My concern is to give them an opportunity to address it in an open and honest way with their parents . . . My primary concern in any instance like this . . . [is] that it be a learning experience for those people, to help those kids learn and be wiser and make smarter decisions,’’ he said.
He hoped parents with concerns would contact him or the school directly with any concerns.
‘‘I don’t resile from that decision one little bit. I think it’s a good one. There’s always someone who will second guess you when these things happen.’’