Stay Sober or Skip Prom

Pre-gaming won't be a smart option for Wisconsin teens attending Cederburg High School's upcoming prom: officials will be randomly selecting students to take a breathalyzer test at the door. Students caught with booze breath will be turned away—corsages, boutonnieres and all. The idea might have been lifted from neighboring Germantown High School, where students are asked to pick a poker chip from a bag before entering school-wide events—if they draw a marked chip, they have to take a breath test. Germantown Principal Joel Farren has said it’s “not about us trying to ‘get’ the students. It’s about us telling them: ‘Don’t do it here. This is a learning environment.’” He added, "Parents love it. They think it's the greatest idea in the world." But other parents are opposed, believing it invades privacy or displays a lack of trust in students. Regardless, breathalyzer policies are popping up at schools all over the country—and they seem to be working. Farren said 17 students were expelled during the 2005-2006 year for either drinking or showing up drunk to school events—but since the breathalyzers have been enacted, not one student has been caught with alcohol at school.