School Boards And Rigid Zero Tolerance Policies Strike Again!

[Photo from Wikipedia.org]

Today, I feel the need to climb back up on the soapbox and protest against school systems' "zero tolerance policies!"  Following the tragedy at Columbine, many school boards around the country have, in my opinion, over-reacted by enacting overly rigid zero tolerance policies concerning situations in which students bring toy guns to school.  Simply put, if the kid violates the policy, by bringing any toy weapon to school, (no matter how small), he or she gets zapped -- i.e. suspended and/or prosecuted.  No room for discretion, (or common sense), is allowed.  In my opinion, such lame-brained policies have led to some absurd results.

For example, have you read the news reports this week about the 9 year old Palmer, Massachusetts elementary school boy who was referred to juvenile court after taking a plastic gun on a school bus?  The kid reportedly forgot the toy was in his jacket pocket!  But school officials, in my opinion, exercised poor judgment, and discarded their discretion and common sense, by making a criminal case out of it! 

But the list of such absurd cases goes on and on!  For example, another 9 year old boy in New York recently faced suspension, according to various reports, simply because he took a toy policeman holding a two-inch gun to school.  And I will bet you all will also remember the reported case of the little girl who got into trouble simply because she had a plastic butter knife in her lunch box!

This is outrageous!  Look, as a former state and federal prosecutor, I realize that, generally, the criminal laws must be enforced.  And I also know that we cannot afford to have kids taking dangerous weapons to school.  But, in my opinion, these cases demonstrate that zero tolerance policies are not the right answer!  Instead, school systems should use a little common sense by affording school officials more leeway to simply tell a kid, "Hey, hand me that toy.  You can pick it up after school.  Don't bring it back here again." 

Now, I feel better!  I can climb down from my soapbox!  What do you think?

"Zero Tolerance" Laws And A Twelve Year Old Student

STOP! HOLD THE PRESS! Originally, I had planned a post today about mortgage fraud. But, trust me, it can wait! Today, instead, I want to complain about another example of bureaucratic stupidity, (involving zero tolerance laws or rules), which has caught my attention! Once again, I feel compelled to climb upon the soapbox and rail against the unfortunate trend, in our society today, to lock up, (non-violent), school children through the imposition of rigid, zero tolerance policies.

The latest example involves a 12 year old New York City girl who was locked up for doodling on her desk! That's right. She simply wrote with a marker on her school desk--something to the effect of "I was here" and "I love my friends." As a result, instead of simply making her erase it and punishing her, in school, the school authorities called the police and had this poor girl carted off to jail--in handcuffs! This is outrageous!

Now, don't get me wrong. This post is not written in support of desk doodling, putting gum under desks, or otherwise violating school policies. However, this post IS written in favor of school authorities using a little more common sense when dealing with such matters!

There, I feel better! I hope this little girl will be okay. And I hope I have made my point and persuaded you that our society has become too fixated on rigid, zero tolerance laws and locking up school children.

Zero Tolerance Policies--Another Look

Doesn't everyone remember the famous scene in the movie Animal House in which John Belushi's character starts a food fight in the college cafeteria? Well, today, such antics might get Belushi thrown in jail, as well as suspended from school!

We recently had a post in which we protested the trend toward rigid, zero tolerance policies in schools around the country. As we pointed out, school children have been suspended, and even prosecuted, for innocently bringing scouting utensils and butter knives to school. But now, another incident has occurred at a Chicago school which again illustrates our point that school boards are sometimes going too far with these policies.

This time, it's a middle school food fight! And this time, two dozen school kids, between eleven and fifteen years old, have actually been arrested and face criminal charges, in addition to school discipline.

In my opinion, this is outrageous! To cart these kids off to jail, instead of simply addressing it as a school matter, is absurd! Suspend them, or even spank them, but don't prosecute them! When will common sense prevail? I think Belushi would agree with me. But what do you think?

Bad Laws: Zero Tolerance and Mandatory Sentencing

In my opinion, there has been an unfortunate, excessive trend, in the United States, toward rigid, "one-size-fits-all" laws. These bad laws include mandatory sentencing laws and zero tolerance policies.

I have no problem with some mandatory sentencing laws, especially for violent, repeat criminal offenders. For such dangerous, repeat offenders, I believe most of us would generally agree to "lock 'em up and throw away the key." But the mandatory sentencing laws go much further. All around the country, legislatures are deciding to take away sentencing judges' discretion by mandating minimum sentences to be served for various crimes. For example, we have seen some offenders getting mandatory life sentences under some states' "three strikes" laws for simply shoplifting items worth a few dollars. In my opinion, this is going too far. While some mandatory laws are good, sentencing judges still need some discretion to avoid extreme results.

I also take issue with some "zero tolerance" policies that are in vogue around the country. For instance, school boards everywhere have jumped on the bandwagon with their inflexible zero tolerance policies concerning weapons on campus. Just this past week, we have all read about the Delaware first grader who was suspended for innocently taking a cub scout all-purpose utensil to school. And did you hear about the high school eagle scout who was suspended simply because he had a scouting knife carefully tucked away in his car trunk? In my opinion, these suspensions, based upon these rigid zero tolerance policies, are outrageous!

When will state legislatures and school boards get back to using a little more judgment and common sense? One size does not always fit all. What do you think?