Could water bottles be outlawed from school?

During the week of April 17, the school received an anonymous tip in the form of a letter from a parent, informing the administration that their child informed them that students were supposedly bringing alcohol into the school in water bottles. The return address was the school, making it seem as though the school had sent it to itself.

Anonymous tips are something the administration receives somewhat often because the people who sent them are not comfortable coming forward or want to avoid getting others in trouble and have it be their fault.

While these tips can be helpful in bringing light to problems that were previously a secret, there is not much the faculty can do to address the issue if they do not know who specifically is causing it. If the tip is received anonymously, they also cannot follow up with whoever gave them the tip in the first place.

In this situation, the entire staff was made aware of the tip, but nothing can be done without proof that it did in fact happen. The custodial staff, teaching staff, and remaining faculty have been “on guard,” keeping ears and eyes open for any new information regarding the issue.

“As long as water bottles have been around, it’s been a thing,” Vice Principal Michael Pasciuto said.

Twelve years ago, in Pasciuto’s former district, there was a similar issue. In that situation, a female student and her mother came forward in person. 

Since the issue has arisen in Glen Rock, there has been a lot of talk about it in the halls and classrooms.

One of the rumors that came up in conversation was the potential “water bottle ban.” This means that students would not be allowed to have water bottles at any point in the high school. They would most likely only be able to drink from the water fountains.

However, there is no possibility of the ban at this time.

“I don’t think we’re there because we don’t have initiative. I would struggle, and so would Mr. Arlotta, with punishing the entire student body over a rumor,” Pasciuto said.

This ban would also be extremely difficult to enforce. The cafeteria sells water bottles, and they would possibly have to stop if the rule were put in place.

The students that heard about the rumor were mainly upperclassmen. Sophomore Bryan Novick, however, heard about the issue, but not from a fellow classmate. He had heard of it from his mother. 

She had asked him if he heard anything about it, and he hadn’t up until that point, just like most of the underclassmen, because it wasn’t true.