3 eighth-graders suspended after drinking episode in Marshfield

A Marshfield eighth-grader has been suspended from school after guzzling alcohol with classmates on a school bus and arriving at her middle school at 7:30 a.m. showing signs of alcohol poisoning, officials say.

The female student, whose name was withheld, was later treated at South Shore Hospital and faces a juvenile count of illegal alcohol possession at Furnace Brook Middle School, according to police and school officials.

Two classmates, one of whom allegedly provided the alcohol and another who drank some of the beverage, a mix of whiskey, vodka, and amaretto, also have been charged and suspended.

"We want [students to know] this will not be tolerated," said Officer Robert Quigley Jr. who has been teaching Drug Abuse Resistance Education for 12 years in Marshfield schools. "We just want accountability of that action."

Marshfield school officials said they will not tolerate substance abuse of any kind.

Wednesday morning, the male eighth-grader accused of supplying the drink "took a little of each" liquid from his parents' bottles and combined them in a sports drink container, said Quigley. The student hid the bottle in his coat and boarded the bus, police said.

"He was on the bus, probably showing off in front of the girls," said Quigley. One girl took two sips and passed the drink on to a friend. The friend "guzzled" the cocktail, he said.

"It was a bad choice," said Quigley. "She is a good kid."

By the time the bus arrived at 7:30 a.m., the girl who took the big gulp was feeling the effects of the alcohol. She vomited in home room, and a teacher sent her to the nurse's office.

Quigley heard about the incident and checked on the student. He said she showed telltale signs of alcohol poisoning: Her eyes rolled in the back of her head, her skin was clammy, and her blood pressure was rising and falling.

School officials sent the student to South Shore Hospital for treatment, but not before she revealed the names of the boy who brought the drink and the friend who took a few sips.

The two other students involved and their parents were then called into the principal's office.

"It was just a mess," said Al Makein, Furnace Brook principal. "When I smelled it, it was just potent."

Quigley said that with just a sniff he could detect the whiskey and vodka.

"We have no idea what was really in it," Quigley said, adding that the beverage was analyzed for drug additives, but none were found.

Makein sent a letter home to parents Wednesday afternoon, reminding them "to please monitor alcohol and prescription drug products in the home," the memo read.

The principal said it appears to be an isolated incident, and he does not know of any previous ones at the middle school.

"They're just kids, not kids who are . . . behavior problems," Makein said. "I was very, very surprised by it."

He said adolescent students are sometimes impulsive. "The original acquisition of the alcohol was an impulsive action. The girl who consumed the alcohol was also on impulse," Makein said.

School Committee member Marti Morrison said substance abuse is not just a problem for Marshfield parents to monitor. "It's a problem everywhere."

"The way we try to deal with issues of abuse is to confront them head on," Morrison said.