End Zero Tolerance
That’s the goal of a website I found (via Number 2 Pencil) http://endzerotolerance.com/.
The mission of endzerotolerance.com is to be a comprehensive and up-to-date national resource for those interested in learning more about the negative impact of Zero Tolerance upon students, families and society.
I don’t have any school-age kids yet, but by the time I do, I’m wondering what the government-run schools will be like. Of course, it’s easy to get the impression that Things Are Just Awful, because the good stuff isn’t newsworthy.
However, based on my own government school experience, I’d have to say that at least 75% of my time, if not more, was just wasted. Of course, this was in rural Louisiana, so I’ll admit my experience probably wasn’t typical. On the other hand, nobody freaked out over scissors. Heck, most of the boys had pocket knives, and during hunting season I’d bet there were always a couple of pickup trucks with—*gasp*—GUNS in them!
Ah well. The answer, as always, is to be vigilant. In the meantime, have any of you readers run into any “zero-tolerance” problems?
UPDATE: Say Uncle pointed me to Zero Intelligence, a blog ” dedicated to keeping an eye on, and pointing out the excesses of, bad school policies and actions.” Unfortunately, there’s plenty of stuff out there to keep them busy.
March 6th, 2004 at 12:38 am
This is why god gave us home schooling.
March 6th, 2004 at 7:16 am
A step-nephew-in-law got suspended and almost expelled for having snuff at a Blount County school. Apparently there is a ZT policy for tobacco of any kind. When I went to high school, there was a student smoking area.
April 20th, 2004 at 6:05 am
A neighbor child steals two items from a collection of antique and fancy knives we inherited from a deceased uncle. The thieving little boy takes them to school, is caught with them, and is questioned by a uniformed police officer who actually has an office in the school and is provided with a computer, a phone, etc. (Does this sound a little Gestapo-ish?)
Under the skilled bullying questions of the police officer, the thief says he got the knives from my child and that my child just recently brought a knife to school.
You know the rest of the story. The school officials have no evidence that my child has done anything wrong: they have not seen a knife, no one has complained that he was displaying or harboring a knife, he has not been found with a knife. BUT HE HAS BEEN ACCUSED BY A THIEF.
My child was bullied by a six foot plus armed deputy sheriff into composing and signing an account of how he had brought a knife to school. He was not allowed to seek advice, he was not informed that what he said could be used against him, and he was not told what the he was accused of by the other child.
Since we neglected teaching our child how to lie, he wracked his brains and finally wrote an account of how he almost got caught one time with a knife in his backpack after using that backpack as an overnight bag during a spend-the-night visit to the home of a fellow basketball team member. (He had taken a knife on that trip to the friend’s house so he could show it to the friend, had forgot it was in his backpack, and had inadvertently taken the knife to school the following Monday morning, but no official of the school had ever known about the knife being at school.)
So my child was ZT’ed without any regard for Fifth amendment protections. He was sent to a prison-like alternative school and not allowed to return to class for over 30 calendar days.
I am seeking the help of the ACLU. What do you think?
April 20th, 2004 at 9:03 am
I think I’d be blind from rage. Let us know how it turns out. One question: how did they treat the thief? Did he get zero tolerance?