While not all the students at the Homecoming dance may have been eager to immerse themselves in the rowdy throng of students crowding the pool lobby, all attendees did become intimately acquainted with a new and probably permanent guest at the dance: the breathalyzer.

For the first time in the school’s history, all students were required to pass a mandatory breathalyzer test before entering the dance. No one was found to have a questionable breath alcohol level, and all students were admitted; both Mrs. Muhlfelder and Mrs. DeVost were confident that the breathalyzer test was successful, and that all students were, in fact, sober.

The policy was first suggested last year, and is intended to ensure that all students are comfortable and safe and have fun at school events. If a student had tested above the acceptable range on the breathalyzer, school administrators would have immediately called his or her parents to pick the student up from the dance. Mrs. DeVost also noted that students caught by the breathalyzer may be subjected to further disciplinary measures in school.

Although the breathalyzer is intended to become a permanent fixture at all school dances, whether or not it’s 100% efficacy will continue is questionable. Granted, the policy will deter some kids from drinking, but for others, the caution the breathalyzer currently engenders may eventually be replaced by apathy. While Mrs. DeVost is hopeful that the policy will be successful in the future, I have several qualms.

The students — and I’m sure there are at least a few at our school — who think that school dances aren’t much fun unless experienced through the daze of alcohol will either show up inebriated and hope to sneak past the breathalyzer, try to bring drinks into the dance, or just skip the dance altogether and head straight to the after-party. And let’s face it: for a number of upper-school students, the dance is just a precursor to the real parties afterward.

Furthermore, while Mrs. DeVost hopes that the parents — after being called to pick up their inebriated child — will intervene and admonish him or her, I’m guessing that, in many cases, the parents of these kids either don’t care that their children drink, or may even provide them with alcohol. That being said, it is doubtful that the parents will take significant measures to prevent their child’s behavior from recurring in the future.

For most kids, the appeal of drinking outweighs the repercussions of being caught. Then again, the students who tend to depend on alcohol for fun are not the kinds of kids who stop and consider the risks and benefits of their behavior in the first place. The bottom line is this: if students want to drink, they’re going to find a way to do it — if not before or during a school dance, then most definitely after.

All decisions and actions have unintended and unexpected consequences, and I’m sure this case is no different. After a few more dances we should have a better picture of what’s going on, and be better able to discern the effects — if any — of the breathalyzer policy.