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Quotable Informer

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A group of high school students in Pekin, Ill., were suspended last week after school officials suspected the mints they were eating were actually illegal drugs.

Jason McMichael, the father of one of the students, told the Journal Star that his 17-year-old son Eric was suspended for two days from Pekin Community High School and not allowed to attend the school's homecoming festivities after staffers found four students eating energy mint tablets that are marketed like caffeine energy drinks.

McMichael said he received a phone call from the dean's office informing him of his son's suspension and that the teen was being monitored by the school nurse for an elevated heart rate—though McMichael doesn't believe it was due to the energy mints.

"He's never been in trouble," McMichael said. "He was probably just nervous."

Eric McMichael said he and three others were eating Revive tablets—touted as "nature's energy mints"—in the school cafeteria when they were disciplined.

"People bring energy drinks to school every day," the teen told Central Illinois' WMBD-TV. "I see this every day and we get in trouble for energy mints?"

According to EnergyFiend.com, each mint contains 101 milligrams of caffeine along with guarana, green tea, ginseng, acai, mangosteen and goji. The Revive brand is endorsed by several MMA fighters and fitness pageant contestants.

McMichael's father said school officials later admitted they did not know if the chewable, unmarked mints were, in fact, illegal drugs but upheld the suspensions anyway, saying the teens displayed "gross misconduct for taking an unknown product."

"Now they know nothing illegal happened," McMichael said on Friday, "but they're still pursuing the suspension."

Superintendent Paula Davis told the paper that while she was not able to discuss the incident, school officials would have been within their rights to discipline the students if they were seen "ingesting things that look like unmarked pills."


parent article

Sparkly Lunatic

I can see the 'pills' thing, and while I admit that I don't know anything about the school board in the States, much less Illinois(?), I do believe they really should have lifted the suspension after discovering that they were mints. Likewise how did they know that the boy didn't know what they were?
"Gross misconduct for taking an unknown product" implies that the kid had no idea that these were, in fact mints.
However judging from the language I think it's pretty safe to say he knew exactly what they were.
Mints.
It really sounds like a desperate drive to be in the right to me, like they're somehow afraid of responsible conduct and admitting wrongdoing.

But again this is knowing nothing about said school or the school board, and just going by the article alone.

aside:
I mean,
MINTS.
MINTS.

What, are tic tacs banned from schools now? Hot damn am I glad my highschool wasn't like this one because I brought mints to school, and shared them, nearly every single day. /smh
Heck considering it was pretty well known, I think, among the staff that I came from a low income home in a low income neighbourhood and hung around with some pretty spotty people, the assumption that I would have been doing drugs some time during my highschool experience would have probably been a fair one. Hell, at worst probably even selling them, as I was very tempted to do throughout my highschool career.

But did they ever suspend me for sharing pill shaped mints?
Ala nope.
Hell they even interviewed me toward the end of my highschool career when it had somehow gotten out that I hadn't done drugs aside from prescription, smoked, imbibed alcohol or anything of the sort throughout my entire time at the highschool because they wanted to help other kids.
And this is a highschool who's Geography textbooks were probably at LEAST ten years out of date, if not more.
Probably more, actually.
Logic.
/Rant

Snuggly Buddy

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Wow. Overreact much?
Initial cause for concern is reasonable.
Continued concern if the kids could not produce the commercial container - also reasonable.
Continuing the suspension once they figured out it was a commercial, OTC mint product? NOT reasonable. Especially if, as stated, the school does not have a policy against energy drinks.

I don't personally think kids should be taking caffeine pills (not that great for adults either) but for the sake of comparison to the 101 mg of caffeine per mint listed in the article -
Cup of coffee 115–175mg
Can of Mountain Dew 54 mg.

I'm not sure what to make about the comment "gross misconduct for taking an unknown product."
Are they saying the teens did not know what they were taking or just that the teens were committing gross misconduct for taking something that was unknown to the teacher? I gotta think the kids at least knew they were energy mints sold OTC.

HimeKeesho's Wife

Mints?? That's crazy

Dapper Entrepreneur

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IN OUR SOSIATY TODAY EVERONE IS OVER REACTIVE AND TOO PERINOYED IF I WERE THE PARENTS I WOULD SUE THE LIVING S***** OUT OF THE SCHOOL BECUSE THIS CLOSE TO GRADUATION IT WILL AFFECT THEM FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES

Fashionable Hunter

NYANNINGA1
IN OUR SOSIATY TODAY EVERONE IS OVER REACTIVE AND TOO PERINOYED IF I WERE THE PARENTS I WOULD SUE THE LIVING S***** OUT OF THE SCHOOL BECUSE THIS CLOSE TO GRADUATION IT WILL AFFECT THEM FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES


It really won't. I got into my only fist-fight in the spring of my senior year and was suspended for two days but it didn't go on my permanent record. And since the schools knows that the substance was mints and not illegal, then that can't go on their permanent records either.

You know what might affect a kid for the rest of their life?
Not knowing how to spell society*, everyone*, paranoid*, or because*. If you're ever planning on getting a job that's taken semi-seriously, either learn to spell or get/listen to spell-check.

Greedy Consumer

David2074
Wow. Overreact much?
Initial cause for concern is reasonable.
Continued concern if the kids could not produce the commercial container - also reasonable.
Continuing the suspension once they figured out it was a commercial, OTC mint product? NOT reasonable. Especially if, as stated, the school does not have a policy against energy drinks.

I don't personally think kids should be taking caffeine pills (not that great for adults either) but for the sake of comparison to the 101 mg of caffeine per mint listed in the article -
Cup of coffee 115–175mg
Can of Mountain Dew 54 mg.

I'm not sure what to make about the comment "gross misconduct for taking an unknown product."
Are they saying the teens did not know what they were taking or just that the teens were committing gross misconduct for taking something that was unknown to the teacher? I gotta think the kids at least knew they were energy mints sold OTC.
perhaps they over-ate it.

Shameless Giver

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kakteed
NYANNINGA1
IN OUR SOSIATY TODAY EVERONE IS OVER REACTIVE AND TOO PERINOYED IF I WERE THE PARENTS I WOULD SUE THE LIVING S***** OUT OF THE SCHOOL BECUSE THIS CLOSE TO GRADUATION IT WILL AFFECT THEM FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES


It really won't. I got into my only fist-fight in the spring of my senior year and was suspended for two days but it didn't go on my permanent record. And since the schools knows that the substance was mints and not illegal, then that can't go on their permanent records either.

You know what might affect a kid for the rest of their life?
Not knowing how to spell society*, everyone*, paranoid*, or because*. If you're ever planning on getting a job that's taken semi-seriously, either learn to spell or get/listen to spell-check.



What's in bold reminds me of this:


GET EM!

Fashionable Hunter

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kakteed
NYANNINGA1
IN OUR SOSIATY TODAY EVERONE IS OVER REACTIVE AND TOO PERINOYED IF I WERE THE PARENTS I WOULD SUE THE LIVING S***** OUT OF THE SCHOOL BECUSE THIS CLOSE TO GRADUATION IT WILL AFFECT THEM FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES


It really won't. I got into my only fist-fight in the spring of my senior year and was suspended for two days but it didn't go on my permanent record. And since the schools knows that the substance was mints and not illegal, then that can't go on their permanent records either.

You know what might affect a kid for the rest of their life?
Not knowing how to spell society*, everyone*, paranoid*, or because*. If you're ever planning on getting a job that's taken semi-seriously, either learn to spell or get/listen to spell-check.



What's in bold reminds me of this:


GET EM!


rofl

Though, why are all the comments about his hair?!

Snuggly Buddy

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We Are Organisms
David2074
Wow. Overreact much?
Initial cause for concern is reasonable.
Continued concern if the kids could not produce the commercial container - also reasonable.
Continuing the suspension once they figured out it was a commercial, OTC mint product? NOT reasonable. Especially if, as stated, the school does not have a policy against energy drinks.

I don't personally think kids should be taking caffeine pills (not that great for adults either) but for the sake of comparison to the 101 mg of caffeine per mint listed in the article -
Cup of coffee 115–175mg
Can of Mountain Dew 54 mg.

I'm not sure what to make about the comment "gross misconduct for taking an unknown product."
Are they saying the teens did not know what they were taking or just that the teens were committing gross misconduct for taking something that was unknown to the teacher? I gotta think the kids at least knew they were energy mints sold OTC.
perhaps they over-ate it.


Well, I only have the article to go on but that's not the reason they stated.
I'd even be okay with the school banning 'energy products' in general if they felt they were not healthy for the kids but to allow energy drinks but suspend kids for the same ingredients in a mint is rather lame. It sounds to me more like school over reacting then trying to save face when they found out the 'drugs' were not 'illegal drugs' like they thought.

Demonic Kitten

David2074
We Are Organisms
David2074
Wow. Overreact much?
Initial cause for concern is reasonable.
Continued concern if the kids could not produce the commercial container - also reasonable.
Continuing the suspension once they figured out it was a commercial, OTC mint product? NOT reasonable. Especially if, as stated, the school does not have a policy against energy drinks.

I don't personally think kids should be taking caffeine pills (not that great for adults either) but for the sake of comparison to the 101 mg of caffeine per mint listed in the article -
Cup of coffee 115–175mg
Can of Mountain Dew 54 mg.

I'm not sure what to make about the comment "gross misconduct for taking an unknown product."
Are they saying the teens did not know what they were taking or just that the teens were committing gross misconduct for taking something that was unknown to the teacher? I gotta think the kids at least knew they were energy mints sold OTC.
perhaps they over-ate it.


Well, I only have the article to go on but that's not the reason they stated.
I'd even be okay with the school banning 'energy products' in general if they felt they were not healthy for the kids but to allow energy drinks but suspend kids for the same ingredients in a mint is rather lame. It sounds to me more like school over reacting then trying to save face when they found out the 'drugs' were not 'illegal drugs' like they thought.

It just makes them look worse in my opinion. In the high school I went to after moving one principal -each were so horrible they never lasted very long before asked to leave, fired, or whatever else -actually wanted to sue a student for a t-shirt with the school logo. This school was actually the best in the county and its drop out rate increaes each year. The schools these days are horrible. It's all about controling the students and making as much money from them as possible. Not about education anymore. That really needs to change.

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If I had a nickle for every damn time a teacher ******** up, I'd be a multi-googolnair XD

(BTW a googol is: 10,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000.)

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