Kate07
Feel better my little guy!
Member since 5/05 4476 total posts
Name:
Kate
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Re: did anyone hear the sachem ordeal today..
Prankster students hand out laxative-laced doughnuts
HERBERT LOWE
[email protected]
March 30, 2007, 12:49 PM EDT
Four boys set off a major scare at a Suffolk middle school Friday morning when they handed out doughnuts laced with a laxative to about 18 classmates as a prank, school district officials said.
The boys and girls who ate the doughnuts were treated at Sequoya Middle School in Holtsville, then allowed to go home with their parents, officials said.
Some children reported having mild discomfort, but none had any serious symptoms, said Dr. Winfred Wu, a physician with the Suffolk County Department of Health and among those doctors who responded to the scene. They should not experience any complications other than that expected after taking a normal dosage of a laxative, Wu said.
The four boys began handing out the doughnuts, which were bought at a store, to fellow pupils on a school bus, said Paul Kopp, assistant superintendent for second curriculum and instruction for the Sachem School District.
They gave more out in a hallway as 1,000 sixth- through eighth-graders arrived for the start of school at 8:20 a.m., Kopp said.
Eighth-grader Shane Hartigan, 14, said later that he ate one of the doughnuts -- chocolate with sprinkles -- which were in a Dunkin' Donuts box brought by another kid into his math class.
"It tasted fine," Shane said. "I didn't think anything of it."
Fifteen minutes later, however, a public-address announcement instructed any student who ate a doughnut to report to the nurse's office.
Shane said that made him worry, but not upset.
"I feel fine," he said.
His mother, Nancy Hartigan, was more concerned and rushed to the school from work once she learned of the incident. Hartigan said she was taking her son home as a precaution in case any symptoms develop.
"I just think that it's a kids' prank that went terribly wrong," Hartigan said. "It could have been a lot of worse."
The prank was revealed when one of the pranksters passed a doughnut to a teacher -- "a health-education teacher, ironically" -- who took a bite out of it and realized there was something in it, Kopp said.
That boy was immediately referred to school administrators and quickly admitted what was going on, and who else was involved, Kopp said. The boys said they laced the doughnuts with the laxative as a copycat prank spawned by what they saw on a recent TV show, he said.
"They just said they had seen something on MTV, but I don't know which show," Kopp said.
"Approximately 18 students ate the doughnuts," the school district said in an early statement. "Although the students are feeling well, the school is taking precautionary measures, as per district procedure. The Suffolk County Police Department and ambulances have responded to the scene and parents have been informed about the situation. The district is taking appropriate disciplinary action."
Classes were going on as usual and the school district quickly notified the entire Sequoia community by having its statement read through an automated telephone system, Kopp said.
"Obviously, safety and security is our No. 1 concern in our schools," Kopp said. "Even though it seems to have just been a prank, we're very concerned about the health of our students."
The assistant superintendent was asked if the prank could have been prevented. "I'm not really sure," he said. "The only way to truly prevent it is to prevent anyone from bringing any food into the schools, but that's not something we're considering."
Several schools across the country have faced similar situations during at least the last couple decades, according to published reports.
For example, in June, a New Portland, Maine, woman who helped three middle-school girls make cookies laced with a laxative served five days in jail and was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service to avoid assault charges for the prank. The three girls -- who meant the cookies for a teacher who had given one of them a bad grade -- were suspended for their part in the incident.
And in May 2003 in Grand Rapids, Mich., an end-of-the-school-year prank caused a stir when two students, ages 15 and 18, brought laxative-laced doughnuts to a high school. Three students and a teacher ate some of the doughnuts and complained of nausea. The two students were suspended.
Staff writers Michael Amon and John Valenti contributed to this story.
Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.
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I hope their parents give it to them GOOD
