The Paly administration purchased a Breathalyzer to be used on students at school functions, especially dances, on Tuesday Dec. 11.

“The intent is not to test each student,” assistant principal Jerry Berkson said. “It’s for when we have suspicions.”

Berkson said he hopes the Breathalyzer will act as a deterrent to drinking at dances and pointed out that the device has both an active mode and a passive mode. While the active mode needs a person to blow into it, the passive mode sucks alcohol out of the air to help pinpoint one who has been drinking.

“We’re probably going to lose some students,” Berkson said. “But that’s fine, because we will gain some back.”

The administration hopes students who had avoided dances in the past due to the presence of intoxicated students will begin attending.

According to Principal Jacqueline McEvoy, an administrative team was formed to study the issue and approved the purchase of the approximately $560 device.

“We’ve used Breathalyzers from the police, but for convenience we bought our own,” McEvoy said. “But it doesn’t change anything [at dances].”

McEvoy said the main reason the unit was purchased was for convenience. In the past, when a student was suspected to be intoxicated, the police were called and its Breathalyzer used. According to McEvoy, with a school Breathalyzer, police won’t have to be distracted from their jobs due to calls from the school and they can keep their Breathalyzers on the street to combat public intoxication in the community.

Berkson points to several other schools as examples of successful Breathalyzer use. These schools include Gunn High School and Hillsdale High School, which according to Berkson, report much better behavior at dances.

“It’s a zero tolerance policy,” Berkson said. “I don’t care if you’re 0.08 or 0.00015.”

But some students express concern over the administration buying a Breathalyzer.

“I think the Breathalyzers are a stupid idea because it’s over-the-top for a high school dance,” senior Michael Hipsley said. But other students, although not happy about their purchase, see how they could be beneficial.

“I thinks it’s unnecessary,” senior Keerthi Naidu said. “But their purpose is a good thing since it keeps kids from drinking at dances.”

Freshman Riley Smith said “I think its to bad that teachers can’t trust kids, but I can see where they’re coming from with safety.”