Incident on High School Trip - What Do You Think?

At a Junior Statesmen of America (JSA) conference two weekends ago, Mr. Klemme reported that several Scarsdale students were found with either beer or pocketknives. The students in possession of the pocketknives said they were purchased in anticipation of an upcoming camping trip. While only a few students were involved, the whole Scarsdale JSA chapter was asked to leave, and members were not permitted to participate in the second day of the conference. Investigations are currently ongoing and the club’s involvement at futures conferences is being examined. Mr. Klemme and faculty advisor Ms. Seigrest are still deciding what disciplinary measures should be taken -- including “suspension, referral to [the school’s] youth outreach workers for counseling, fairness hearings to determine future eligibility for sports and other club activities, and possible restitution to the parents of students who were not involved with the alcohol infraction,” –all per Mr. Klemme’s memo.

As news of the incident spread, though Mr. Klemme sent out an email to all parents of high students informing them of the events and the planned repercussions, some students were unaware of the activities of the JSA club. To clarify, Junior Statesmen of America attend conferences where they work together to solve issues that revolve around a certain theme chosen by the conference leaders. These themes might be politics, current events, or pop culture.

The students in possession of alcohol await fairness meetings to determine their fate. The student handbook says, “any student who has consumed alcohol … whether on or off school property, may be subject to the penalty of losing the privilege to participate in that club or team at Scarsdale.” While the students were not caught consuming alcohol, but only possessing it, is it enough to get them kicked out of the club? Can they be denied membership in the club even if school rules require that all students be allowed to join any club? Furthermore, do all club trips need to be re-evaluated to see if these trips are really productive in achieving what they are offering?

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