LIVONIA. Mich. — Kindergarten is supposed to be a happy time for students. Not time for happy hour.
Parents at a Michigan school are expressing concern after they said a kindergarten student brought a ready-to-drink bottle of Jose Cuervo margarita mix to school, WJBK-TV reported. According to the parents, several of the students took sips of the mixed drink, including their daughters.
“She felt woozy, a little dizzy,” Zanders told WJBK of her daughter’s reaction.
Alexis Smith and Dominique Zanders, whose daughters attend Grand River Academy in Livonia, said their daughters were both given what they believed was juice during snack time, the television station reported. Instead, they were drinking a margarita mix brought by a fellow kindergarten student.
Smith said her daughter had a cup full of the mixed drink and took “four or five sips.”
“The girl poured it in her cup and she drank it and the girl ended up telling her what it is, and she went and told the teacher there is liquor in this cup, and the teacher gave her a funny face,” Zanders told WJBK.
The women said the child brought a plastic bottle to class, WDIV-TV reported. The small bottle has a little more than 10% of alcohol in it, according to the television station.
The two women said the child who brought the single-serve, pre-mixed drinks carried them to school in her backpack, WJBK reported.
The school immediately contacted the parents of the five students that were involved, according to WDIV.
“It was so many thoughts running through my mind, like, ‘Oh my God, you know, what if it was open before the girl brung it to school, how much was it?” Smith told the television station. “My daughter takes medicine. First off, no kid should be drinking, and you know, just the shock itself, it burns. Like how do you feel, like anything could have happened.”
In a statement shared to WJBK and WDIV, Grand River Academy officials called the incident “unfortunate.”
“While we try to keep an eye on everything our students bring to school, that’s simply not possible,” the statement to the television station read in part. “It’s unfortunate that these types of adult beverages can be easily mistaken for child-friendly drinks.”
The school called parents immediately to inform them that the children were unharmed, adding that they would consider disciplinary measures.
However, Smith said the parents of the child should be held accountable.
“If your child knows what it is, nothing wrong with it -- but they should know not to touch it,” Smith told WJBK. “That it’s not for kids.”