The first football game on the turf ended with more than a loss for Kirkwood. It also ended with a student caught drinking alcohol on campus.
While no arrests were made, the student did receive punishment.
“They received school consequences,” Chad Walton, KHS resource officer, said. “[These situations] are sometimes referred to the police, where there will be legal ramifications.”
Being under the influence of alcohol on school property or at a school activity is strictly prohibited, and can result in OSS or a 180-day expulsion.
School counselors also deal with such cases. Tom Gaither-Ganim, educational support counselor, helps students referred to him after alcohol or drug-related incidents. He talks to them about making healthy decisions in life.
“I do not want to convey that kids are never allowed to make mistakes,” Gaither-Ganim said. “We talk to them seriously about misrepresenting the school.”
Even though this is not the first time a student has been caught drinking at a home football game, administrators say the problem is not rooted only in the Kirkwood community.
“It’s bigger than Kirkwood,” Mike Gavin, sophomore principal, said. “I taught at DeSmet and it happened there too.”
Gavin worries about the Kirkwood community’s attitude toward alcohol and teenagers drinking it.
“As a society, we haven’t decided how to teach kids to interact with alcohol,” Gavin said.
Though students caught drinking at school functions are given consequences, faculty members help with more than disciplinary problems.
“Anytime I deal with a student, we discuss more than legal issues,” Walton said.
Consequences of drinking underage and affects on the healthy development of the body and mind are both addressed by Walton.
While individual students are helped, the bigger picture is not ignored. Keeping alcohol out of the stadium is also important. Five to eight police officers work at each football game, and depending on the anticipated crowd size, administrators stand at the entrances.
“We do a pretty good job, and we know what to look for,” Walton said. “Sometimes things will slip by.”
TryPOD, a group that speaks in freshman homerooms about the harm alcohol has on the body, is also looking for a way to discourage students from drinking at school events. The group currently talks to freshmen about the dangers and effects of drinking but is taking steps in the proactive direction.
“This year we’re planning school events to show people how they can have fun partying sober,” Melissa McClure, junior and TryPOD leader, said.
These events are supposed to occur this year but are currently still a work in progress.
“You can go to a school event sober and still have fun,” McClure said. “They should be fun anyways. Sometimes when you drink you ruin the fun for other people.”
