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Forbidding a diabetic to carry his testing needle is outrageous
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Alexander Lagman is not a wrongdoer. The Mountain Pointe High School student is a diabetic who needs a small needle device to frequently check his blood sugar. Such devices alert diabetics to quickly self-administer doses of insulin. Any delay could mean serious illness, possibly even death.
As the Tribune’s Jennifer Ryan reported Thursday, Lagman, 17, is the subject of a lawsuit over the Tempe Union High School District’s policy forbidding having such a device at school because it contains a quarter-inch-long needle.
The intentions behind such policies are noble enough, to protect teenagers from the many scourges of illicit drugs. And strong, clearly spelled-out policies are necessary to safeguard our young people from harm.
Yet these policies can needlessly hurt some students when applied rigidly. Ringing phrases such as “zero tolerance” may win school board elections. But in their zeal, educators often are long on dispensing penalties but short on determining facts. This results in the punishment of young people who, though having items deemed to be contraband, are nonetheless innocent.
The school’s suggestion that Lagman go to the nurse’s office for blood tests is wholly insufficient. In even the few minutes it would take to get there, a diabetic’s blood-sugar level could sink dramatically, causing collapse and serious harm — and potentially a multimillion-dollar legal judgment.
Diabetic students should be allowed to carry their blood-testing devices. School officials should be notified and these students should be warned of the severe penalties for letting any such devices fall out of their hands.
Treating situations individually does add to a school’s administrative burden, but then again, justice is not designed to be efficient, but equitable.
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