# My niece just got expelled from school... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 3, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622 "2007-02-03T00:37:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/1 "2007-02-03T00:37:14Z")
…for a 180 days (a full school year) for pot. My mother just told me so I was “in the loop”. She’s 15 (my niece) and a freshman at the same school I graduated from. I don’t know how much marijuanna she had, but when I went there (class of '03) you needed to have a rather large amount. Now according to my mother the only way to get her into another school is for her parents to “give up custody” :dubious: . Which makes no sense at as there’s a “Christian” school across the road from the HS and I knew kids who transferred to other districts without their parents giving them up. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/2 "2007-02-03T01:11:35Z")
I don’t understand the punishment. Expelled for possession? Why not probation and community service? ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/3 "2007-02-03T01:30:34Z")
Many schools are adopting a “Zero Tolerance” policy, thus it doesn’t matter how much, it’s just the fact that you have it. They figure it will send a stronger message and keep more kids from bringing them into the schools. It doesn’t really help though. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/4 "2007-02-03T01:49:18Z")
Sure it will. If you expel all the kids with weed, no kids with weed will go to the school, assuming a good detection rate. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/5 "2007-02-03T01:57:20Z")
I knew a girl who got expelled from my high school for bringing in a knife to cut herself. (Why on earth they didn’t address the issue of self mutilation as well is beyond me.) Because of Florida laws, she was not allowed to enter any public high school in order to finish her studies. Instead, she got her GED and moved on. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/6 "2007-02-03T02:02:57Z")
The world is getting stupider and stupider. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![the\_chicken\_of\_exeter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac8455/32.png) [@the\_chicken\_of\_exeter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_chicken_of_exeter)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/7 "2007-02-03T02:13:10Z")
Wow. Maybe it’s the different laws in the UK and US but that seems really harsh. The last time I got caught with pot in school I got a 3 day suspension, and that was only because it happened a few times previously. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/8 "2007-02-03T02:42:36Z")
My senior year, my high school instituted drug testing (random, in-a-cup testing). So even smoking pot off campus was not allowed. We had a 2-strike-and-you’re-out policy. 2005 Private School in Mississippi, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/9 "2007-02-03T04:01:35Z")
[QUOTE=feppytweed] My senior year, my high school instituted drug testing (random, in-a-cup testing). So even smoking pot off campus was not allowed. We had a 2-strike-and-you’re-out policy. 2005 Private School in Mississippi, FWIW. [/QUOTE] This disgusts me. Citizens who are mandated to attend school should not be subject to, what I believe should be, violations of their civil rights. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/10 "2007-02-03T04:09:53Z")
[QUOTE=Red Barchetta] This disgusts me. Citizens who are mandated to attend school should not be subject to, what I believe should be, violations of their civil rights. [/QUOTE] It was a private school so they are allowed to do more. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/11 "2007-02-03T04:10:15Z")
[QUOTE=Dragwyr] Many schools are adopting a “Zero Tolerance” policy, thus it doesn’t matter how much, it’s just the fact that you have it. They figure it will send a stronger message and keep more kids from bringing them into the schools. It doesn’t really help though. [/QUOTE] Keeps the class sizes down. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/12 "2007-02-03T04:11:17Z")
[QUOTE=nashiitashii] I knew a girl who got expelled from my high school for bringing in a knife to cut herself. (Why on earth they didn’t address the issue of self mutilation as well is beyond me.) Because of Florida laws, she was not allowed to enter any public high school in order to finish her studies. Instead, she got her GED and moved on. [/QUOTE] I can go one better than that. I read a story about five years back or so about a kid who took a knife away from a girl who had told him she was going to kill herself with it. The kid put the knife in his locker, told a teacher about it… and got expelled for having a knife in his locker. ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/13 "2007-02-03T04:18:41Z")
I really thought that schools were going to stop at testing students for drugs, but now one school has taken it a step further. [Link](http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/01/30/teen.drinking.ap/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/14 "2007-02-03T05:11:46Z")
[QUOTE=Cowboy8467] I really thought that schools were going to stop at testing students for drugs, but now one school has taken it a step further. [Link](http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/01/30/teen.drinking.ap/index.html) [/QUOTE] Are they just testing students who participate in extracurriculars or the entire student body? 😕 If it’s the later it’s clearly an invasion of students’ privacy. Are parent’s even given the right to opt their children out? Does New Jersey allow minors to consume alcohol given to them by their parents at home (some states do). ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/15 "2007-02-03T05:27:12Z")
Getting kicked out of school seems like quite the stressful event. Might even make you desire to smoke up \>\_\> ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/16 "2007-02-03T05:33:30Z")
If they told her ahead of time that this would be the punishment for it I can kind of understand. I think it is overkill, but if she was aware of the consequences she should be held accountable. Hopefully she can find a good private school and work out that weird custody thing. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/17 "2007-02-03T06:14:04Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] The world is getting stupider and stupider. ☹ [/QUOTE] Word. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/18 "2007-02-03T06:47:58Z")
[QUOTE=pbbth] If they told her ahead of time that this would be the punishment for it I can kind of understand. I think it is overkill, but if she was aware of the consequences she should be held accountable. Hopefully she can find a good private school and work out that weird custody thing. [/QUOTE] Sorry, I don’t buy it. We had this debate at my college at the beginning of the year. Two points about school rules came up: -Rules must be enforced consistently if they will ever be enforced at all. (In the case of our school, they previously hadn’t, but then they suddenly were. No idea if that’s the case here.) -The school has a sufficient amount of power over the students - in fact, absolute power- that its punishments must be strictly in proportion to the seriousness of the student’s action, as the question of punishment qualifies as a question of justice. It would be unjust to serve life in prison for stealing a car; expulsion for smoking pot is a smaller version of the same injustice. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/19 "2007-02-03T07:04:32Z")
When I was in 5th Form, one of the guys at my school got expelled for having pot at school. I heard he may have had it there to sell to someone, but it wasn’t considered unusual or an extreme punishment regardless of the circumstances. He was well known as, well, the sort of person who’d bring pot to school, so it wasn’t like this came as a complete surprise to anyone. What you did outside school hours was your own business as far as the teachers were concerned, but bringing pot to school was absolutely _verboten_, and rightly so, IMO. That’s no reflection on the appropriateness of your niece’s punishment, though. Everyone deserves a second chance, and being expelled for mere possession of pot seems too extreme IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622/20 "2007-02-03T08:33:15Z")
If only there was a way to not have pot on you in school. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-niece-just-got-expelled-from-school/390622.md?page=2)