Teaching kids to share snacks is a good idea, but not so much when said snackies contain alcohol. A kindergartener in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, brought spiked jello cups to school to innocently share with their friends. Whether or not they knew or even understood alcohol was in the jello is unknown, but school staff were very quick to stop the children once their newfound secret snack was discovered. To be extra cautious, the school had the kindergarteners checked in the nurse’s office before EMS took them to a local hospital.
The Greater Johnstown School District claims this ordeal was an “isolated incident” and is currently under investigation. In a post on Facebook, the superintendent wrote, “We are cooperating fully with local authorities to determine how the student came into possession of these items and ensure the continued safety of our students and staff.” Due to privacy laws, not too many details can be shared, but the school promises to be transparent and provide updates when appropriate.
While the school can be praised for being responsible and open about the situation, the fact that a 5-year-old child casually brought alcoholic jello cups to school is still unbelievable to many. “How on earth could the parents let this happen? Do they not pay attention to what their children are doing?” complained a Facebook user. “Parents need to start taking responsibility for their children. It’s as simple as that,” another chimed in. Several were a bit sympathetic to the situation, saying that “accidents happen all the time.”
Needless to say, Reddit found the kindergartener’s spiked jello incident rather humorous. “A room full of drunk five year old. Sounds like just about every bar in Wisconsin to tell you the truth,” jokes a user. “Florida vibes tbh,” quips another. “Bet their first thought was how gross it was,” laughed a third. “Kids these days have all the fun,” added a fourth.
Hopefully, this story will be a lesson for parents to be more careful where they store their alcohol or snacks that are not safe for kids. Accidents happen all the time, but things could have turned out much worse had school staff not responded quickly.
