Organic peppermint oil =’s school suspension
December 25, 2009 | Filled Under Green News
A 5th grade student in Commack, N.Y, was recently suspended from John Mandracchia-Sawmill Intermediate School, after bring organic peppermint oil to school. The young girl added several drops in her water bottle and several classmates’ water.
The School District posted a news release saying a student was suspended for “bringing, and then distributing bottled peppermint oil to other students.” “Peppermint oil is an unregulated over-the-counter drug,” the release reads. Commack Superintendent James Feltman said there was “no question” that Sara’s actions violated the district’s code of conduct when she brought the oil to school on Monday.
The girl’s mother, Corrine Morton-Greiner, said on Thursday that the implication that her daughter Sara, a fifth-grade student at John Mandracchia-Sawmill Intermediate School, was bringing an illicit substance to school is “infuriating, according to Long Island Press. Mom also states, she is considering legal action if school officials don’t apologize and revoke her daughter’s suspension.
To be very honest, I am not sure what my take on this is. I am no doctor, and I do understand that these oils have been used in alternative medicines, I can not seem to make up my mind if suspending a child over them, is really effective.
What are your thoughts? Should the girl be suspended from school for bring organic peppermint oil to school?
Photo Copyright © 2009 Young Living Essential Oil
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UH, does that mean if was a regulated prescribed non over-the-counter medicine it would have been okay?
You couldn’t make this stuff up, it’s ridiculous that a school should react like this!
I can see where the school administrators are coming from here. Maybe in this one instance the reaction was over the top, but I think we can all agree that schools would be wise to institute a “don’t be dribblin stuff into kids’ water bottles” rule. It’s not so crazy for the admins to treat it like a drug, when peppermint peddlers proclaim that it is “Used extensively in both Eastern and Western medicine for everything from indigestion to diarrhea, headaches to tired feet, and toothaches to cramps.”*
I would be interested to see the bottle that the student used. If she got it in a grocery store and it has recipes on the back, then I’ll agree that it’s the same as putting something like crystal light into your water bottle. If, on the other hand, it has a bunch of medical claims followed by the quack miranda warning (“this product not intended to treat, diagnose, cure…”), then I think the admins acted reasonably.
*Source: http://tinyurl.com/ybxlwmj
It’s correctness gone mad. I mean what did they seriously think her intentions were? Why not just ask the parents into school with the child to discuss the situation. Then say they didn’t want the oil in school again? How does this help the child or other children in question? It just provokes anger and confused behaviour.
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Ridiculous! that’s what I think! I teach High School and I bring my bottle to school everyday… and sometimes put it on in the classroom! It’s is healthy for everyone! But to have a child suspended over this and calling it a drug is absurd!
Hi Rose,
I am having a hard time with this one! In one way I feel it is ridiculous and in another way can kind of see where they may be concerned.
I personally do not consider oils to be over-the-counter-medicine, but I do know that some may have allergic reactions to them, so I can see where the school could be concerned.
I feel like the measures taken were a bit drastic, perhaps simply stating they were not comfortable with it being in school would be better suited for the situation that out of school suspension.
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