GILROY
– Gilroy High School students will have to pass a breathalyzer
test before they are allowed to enter Saturday night’s junior
prom.
GILROY – Gilroy High School students will have to pass a breathalyzer test before they are allowed to enter Saturday night’s junior prom.
The move is a first for the school and is being done to prevent the underage drinking at last year’s junior prom that resulted in numerous students being ticketed by police for being under the influence of alcohol, GHS Assistant Principal Joni Madolora said.
“We are doing this to ensure the safety of the students and make sure that they have a good time,” said Madolora, who will oversee the breathalyzer program. “This is a big event and we don’t want anything to take away from that.”
An unspecified number of Gilroy Police Department officers will be administering the breathalyzers to the 400 GHS students who are expected to attend the dance at the Eagle Ridge Golf Club Saturday night.
Before entering the dance students will be asked to blow into one of the more than 400 plastic breathalyzer tubes purchased by the GPD, and if traces of alcohol show up, the students’ parents will be called to take them home.
“The police will handle their end and we will deal with our disciplinary consequences as we see appropriate,” Madolora said. “We’ve always been diligent about screening for alcohol at our dances, so this shouldn’t be that different.”
The breathalyzers also will be used at the school’s senior prom scheduled for May 31 at the Hayes Mansion in San Jose.
Madolora said several other high schools in Santa Clara and Monterey counties have used the breathalyzers as a way to deter underage drinking at school events, but GHS has never used the devices in the inclusive manner it will Saturday.
Their is no specific cost related to the breathalyzer tests because they are part of a service contract between the school and GPD, Madolora said.
“We’ve heard there were problems last year with alcohol,” said GHS Principal Bob Bravo, who did not begin working at GHS until August. “We wanted to do all we could to prevent those problems this year.”
Madolora informed different student leader groups about the breathalyzers throughout the week, but as word spread, student reaction varied.
“I think it’s a good idea because of what happened last year,” said senior GHS senior Ashley Jensen, who learned of the new policy through members of the student government. “This should keep everyone safe; it really can’t hurt.”
Other students think the school is taking the alcohol screening too far.
“It sort of seems like an invasion of privacy,” said Dom Mancera, a GHS senior. “It assumes everyone has been drinking.”
According to a 2001 national survey by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 87 percent of high school seniors said they drink at least once a month, compared to 63 percent who smoke cigarettes at least once a month and 32 percent who admitted to using marijuana monthly.
MADD also says that automobile accidents are the leading cause of deaths for 15- to 20-year-olds – often alcohol related – and that $58 billion was spent nationwide in 1998 as a result of underage drinking.
“I’ve got to trust the people putting on the prom have good reasons for doing whatever they’re doing,” school board member Bob Kraemer said about the breathalyzers.
GHS senior Jon Xavier sees pros and cons to the breathalyzers, but doesn’t know if they can deter drinking after the prom.
“I guess it makes sense because there have been problems with drinking before – a lot of people drink,” Xavier said. “But I can see where (the breathalyzers) cause problems because it’s not like there is any probable cause. … If people want to drink, they’ll probably do it after the prom.”
