Students fighting punishment after Laxative cupcake prank discovered

[CougarKing]

I say make them eat the cupcakes.  >

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,423120,00.html

Students Fighting Punishment After Laxative Cupcake Prank Discovered

Two Louisiana high school girls are fighting their expulsion and criminal charges after officials discovered laxative-laced cupcakes left in the teachers' lounge.

Jeannie Nguyen, 17, of Kenner, and Kamrin Kennedy, 17, of Marrero, were expelled from Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy after their principal, Kristi Phillippi, found 22 cupcakes made with the over-the-counter laxative MiraLAX, The Times-Picayune reported.

Authorities said that Nguyen and Kennedy made the cupcakes as a senior prank, but other students warned a teacher to avoid the treats, the New Orleans paper said.

The girls admitted adding the laxative to a cupcake mix and icing, according to a police report. They were booked on charges of mingling harmful substances, which carries a two-year prison sentence and $1,000 fine as punishment, and were suspended for the rest of the school year, The Times-Picayune said.

It's a punishment that parents are calling too tough.

"We're not justifying what these kids did," Kamrin's mother, Marietta Kennedy, told the paper. "But the thing is, we just think the punishment doesn't fit the crime."

 

[PMedMoe]

Maybe it's not a prank but the latest teen-age girl's diet plan. 

Yep, let them eat cake!  ;D

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Yep, sure would have been a hoot watching someone have more than the expected reaction to the mixture :

 

[midget-boyd91]

Are you sh*****g me (no pun intended..... well, maybe a little pun intended  ;D) ? 

When I was in school people would get usually a max of a week out for lighting fires big enough to bring the fire dept or for bringing/selling/using dope. Exlax was a favourite, and one that even some of the teachers got a laugh out of.
Expelling them during their senior year would probably lead them to quit altogether.

Midget

 

[geo]

FWIW, I would have sentenced them to eating every last bit of those cupcakes........

 

[ModlrMike]

Mmmmm, yes. All in good fun. Until someone dies from an anaphylactic reaction.

 

[Blackadder1916]

Mmmmm, yes. All in good fun. Until someone dies from an anaphylactic reaction.

Or there is an interaction with meds that the victim is already taking or it exacerabates an existing medical problem. 

 

[Kat Stevens]

Or how about "it's just plain assholish to poison someone so that they spend all day on the crapper with their sphincter bushing hanging six inches below the rim"?

 

[Armymedic]

Yep, sure would have been a hoot watching someone have more than the expected reaction to the mixture :

Mmmmm, yes. All in good fun. Until someone dies from an anaphylactic reaction.

Or there is an interaction with meds that the victim is already taking or it exacerabates an existing medical problem. 

It would depend on the amount of drug they put into the cupcake. Laxatives of this type are pretty benign as they draw fluids into the bowels vs entering the body. A full bottle would be hazardous, but not lethal. People are more likely to die from chocolate or nut allergy than the  laxative.

Unless of course, as Blackadder alluded to, there is a complication to a massive dumping of fluids (pun intended) from an existing medical problem.

As far as the punishment....extreme.

 

[Michael OLeary]

polyethylene glycol (PEG)
Trade Name - Miralax
http://www.gicare.com/pated/Miralax.htm

For Miralax, the following are the known side effects:

Minor:

    * cramps
    * nausea
    * bloating
    * diarrhea

Major:

    * excessive diarrhea
    * severe weakness
    * severe dehydration

 

[Greymatters]

There is more to the issue than just physical discomfort - there is also the damage to credibility and reputation, plus public humiliation if a teacher is unfortunate enough to not have access to adequate facilities on time.  Not to mention the breach of trust it would cause between teachers and students that would carry on into the future.  It could potentially affect school policy by forcing the creation of a rule to bar students from providing or sharing food products with teachers.  Its quite a step beyond wrapping a teacher's car in toilet paper, a former popular and credible 'prank'.

In the end, one should consider whether this 'harmless prank' was actually a 'planned malicious act'.  The purpose of the punishment is more likely an object leson to others who might have similiar thoughts.

 

[Harley Sailor]

Well this is another example of the changing times... When we did this in school we used exlax in chocolate chip cookies... I got more crap from my mother then we did from the school... We just got lunch time detention for a month and were thankful for having to catch the bus home so we didn't have any after school.

 

[exgunnertdo]

My kids watch "Prank Patrol" on TV.  For those who don't have kids - it's a show where a kid (age maybe 10-15) gets the show's help setting up a prank for a friend or family member.  Some are quite elaborate.

My 7-yr-old talks a lot about "pranking" his sister or us.  We've had lots of talks that a prank or practical joke must be funny to everyone once the prank is over.  Not just him.

The point of the laxative was to embarass or hurt the teachers so the kids could get a good laugh at their expense.  Not on.  But maybe the criminal charges might be too much.

 

[ex-Sup]

Okay, how about a teacher's perspective.

Yes, potentially funny (from a student's perspective); from my perspective, I'd be pretty pissed.

Now, does this warrant criminal charges? Potentially. If I was someone who had a reaction to eating one of these laced cupcakes, I'd be looking to tear someone a new one (yes, I realize the irony). Now let's flip it around and assume that something like this was done to some students; there'd be hell to pay. Yes, I understand that we as adults have much loftier expectations, but these students aren't kids either. At 17, they are intelligent enough to know what they did could have some serious repercussions.

In my 10+ years as a teacher, I've come to the conclusion that one of the problems in our society is that our youth grow up in an atmosphere of entitlement and enabling. They all have rights and they all know their rights. They/we makes excuses for their actions. No one takes responsibility any more. It is very frustrating to watch all of this happen, and especially since our hands are tied in many circumstances. I don't know what the exact answer is, but I do know that things need to change.

 

[Harley Sailor]

The answer is to put more discipline back in the schools.  I know, no one wants the teachers to discipline their kids.  Well someone has to and if the parents won't, who will? 

 

[ex-Sup]

Here's another take. I think that some kids today (and this is the minority) know that they have no consequences at home. There is only so much we can do at school, and if there's no support at home, we're just banging our heads against the wall. When I was a kid, I knew that my old man would kill me if I ever got in trouble at school. I probably wouldn't have gone home. Now, for some, it becomes you're picking on my child or my child wouldn't act like that. As if I have nothing better to do that to pick on your kid  :

Here's a perfect example. My wife teaches math at the same school I'm at and she called home once for a kid that being a pain in her class. She spoke to Dad and explained the situation. He told her point blank that there wasn't much he could do...he was tired of harking on his kid. He finished by telling her that he could be the nice Dad or the a**hole Dad and he didn't want to be the latter. I guess when parenting becomes too tough, pack it in!

So, do we go back to beating kids in school? Well, some days....
But seriously, if there's no support from home, anything we do is a waste of time.

**Editted for major typo.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Ah,one of my favourite topics.  Maybe if parental discipline hadn't been legislated out of existence, we may have a prayer.  I was scared shitless of my old man too, all he had to do was point at his old army belt hanging on the back door, and the message was received, 5X5.  He maybe used it 3 times in my life with him, but they were enough.  With kids help lines and DCFS just a (parentally provided) cell phone call away, people are terrified to get a grip on their little shit critters.

 

[GAP]

Ah,one of my favourite topics.  Maybe if parental discipline hadn't been legislated out of existence, we may have a prayer.  I was scared shitless of my old man too, all he had to do was point at his old army belt hanging on the back door, and the message was received, 5X5.  He maybe used it 3 times in my life with him, but they were enough.  With kids help lines and DCFS just a (parentally provided) cell phone call away, people are terrified to get a grip on their little shit critters.

As probably with many here, solving one of the biggest problems with kids is...........

Wait for it


Communication......

The 800 lb gorilla is always there, but communication, good or bad, has to never stop...

(ps: I didn't say it always worked, just most of the time..... ;D)

 

[ex-Sup]

Well I think in some ways the old days were a bit overboard. I remember my brother getting the strap for running down the hall. Now, at times, it seems as if we've done a complete 180.

I really don't know what the right answer is. I just know that some parents just don't get it. I spent 20 minutes in one of the VP's office yesterday while she was on the phone with a parent of a girl who is supposed to be in my class, but I've never seen her (keep in mind were 3 weeks in). She is apparently dealing with some personal issues that are impacting her attendance (2 classes in the past week). Her mom doesn't want to "push" her too hard b/c of her emotional issues. Uh, so you just let her skip? So she shows up for lunch to hang out with her friends but doesn't come to class? Give me a break! You can be supportive and get your kid to school!

Many of the issues we encounter can be traced back to issues at home. We can't fix that.

 

[ex-Sup]

As probably with many here, solving one of the biggest problems with kids is...........

Wait for it


Communication......

Well said. I think most people get it...if we can get through to the few that don't, my life (and that of my colleagues) would be much easier.