Party like it is 1995, Kid is suspended for drinking mouthwash

A student who argued that he was only freshening his breath to get the attention of a girl in his English class got a suspension instead. 

Carter Loar, 17, a senior at Park View High School, was suspended for 10 days after pulling a small bottle of mouthwash from his jacket and swishing some between his teeth. 

School officials explained that he had broken a rule that prohibited students from bringing to school any liquid containing alcohol. The youth has also been ordered to spend three days in a substance-abuse treatment program.

The boy's parents have appealed the suspension. "This is just crazy," said his mother, LeJuan Loar. "It's not like he took a gun to school. It was an oral hygiene product." 

School officials saw it another way. In a letter to the youth's parents, the principal, James E. Person, said their son had admitted to drinking the mouthwash and had bragged to classmates about its content of nearly 22 percent alcohol.[February 19, 1995 NYT]