High School Punishes Teen For Giving Drunken Pal Ride Home From Party

NORTH ANDOVER (CBS) — It’s tough for Eleanor Cox to talk about how heartbroken her daughter Erin is over the punishment she received for doing what she thought was right.

“She’s very fragile and I’m worried about her. Very worried about her. She didn’t do anything wrong,” Cox told WBZ-TV on Sunday.

Two weeks ago, Erin received a call from a friend at a party who was too drunk to drive. Erin drove to Boxford after work to pick up her friend. Moments after she arrived, the cops arrived too and busted several kids for underage possession of alcohol.

A North Andover High School honor student, Erin was cleared by police, who agreed she had not been drinking and was not in possession of alcohol. But Andover High told Erin she was in violation of the district’s zero tolerance policy against alcohol and drug use. In the middle of her senior year, Erin was demoted from captain of the volleyball team and told she would be suspended from playing for five games.

“If a kid asks for help from a friend, you don’t want that kid to say ‘I’m sorry I can’t help you. I might end up in trouble at school,’” said attorney Wendy Murphy, who is trying to help the Cox family get the school’s decision reversed.

The Cox family filed a lawsuit in District Court on Friday but a lawyer for the school district argued against any kind of injunction. The judge ruled the court did not have jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the parents of Erin’s teammates have started a petition to support her.

Neither the school district nor its attorney could be reached for comment Sunday, but the Cox family is hoping they’ll listen to the host of supporters who’ve stood behind Erin.

“She didn’t do anything wrong. She did what she thought was right, and I’m very proud of her,” Erin’s mother said.

Source: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/10/13/no...rom-party/

I just heard about this from a friend but wow.

Looking deeper into the story and the actual people involved is bringing up a lot of contradictions and unclear information. All of the students involved are saying she was there drinking as well, and that there was no "friend" there for her to pick up. The police, however, supposedly let her go because she had no alcohol on her and did not "smell of alcohol". I don't know, I'd wait for more information before going apeshit up in arms over it.

Yo, I'm from that town. Many friends confirmed that she was at that party and she lied to her parents about it.

Yo, I'm from that town. Many friends confirmed that she was at that party and she lied to her parents about it.

Not sure if we can take that as valid.

Not sure if we can take that as valid.

What, the part that I'm from the town or the part that people know she was at that party?

What, the part that I'm from the town or the part that people know she was at that party?

Pretty much both.

Pretty much both.

I mean, I have my pep band shirt from my senior year:



Anything more than that would require me posting pictures of myself with friends and family and I don't want y'all to believe me that much.

If you look at the comment section, a lot of people are saying "My friend/child was there are saw her there drinking for 3 hours" or some variant. I know it's typical to call people who comment trolls, but three things stand out for me:

1) This is a local news site, presumably some of the commenters will know people who were involved.
2) A lot of people have said "My friend/child said she was at the party".
3) No one has said "My friend/child said she WAS NOT at the party".

Taken together, I think it's safe to say that there was some shoddy journalism, at the least.

Small town drama is the worst.