Does Zero Tolerance = Zero Common Sense?


Posted by Bobby Eberle
November 13, 2009 at 8:52 am

We all know times have changed. Back when I was in elementary school, a trip to the principal's office could mean a meeting with a big paddle. (Never for me, of course. I'm just giving an example.) My how things have changed. For fear of irate parents and crazy lawsuits, plus the injection of massive liberal "feel good" policies," schools began to cut back on discipline. The results came as no surprise: No discipline enforcement means poorer child behavior.

But have we now come full circle? Schools are adopting "zero tolerance" policies in order to take the guess work out of discipline. Rather than leaving it to the teacher or administrator to deem whether an incident warrants discipline, they just follow a script. Of course, when thinking and common sense are taken away from the equation, stupidity rules. Just look at what happened in Chicago to the kids involved in a food fight...

As noted in a story on ABCNews.com, students involved in a food fight at Chicago's Perspectives Charter Middle School were "rounded up by police, arrested and charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct." The students ranged in age from 11 to 15.

World News with Charles Gibson / Food Fight Lands Kids in Jail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tETiJMSe ... r_embedded

According to a post on OpposingViews.com, "Diana Shulla-Cose, president and co-founder of Perspectives Charter Schools, told The New York Times that (the food fight) kept escalating, to the point where an on-campus police officer called for backup. That resulted in a heavy police presence that eventually led to the large number of arrests."

25 Middle School Kids Arrested For A Food Fight!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf5MCv5c ... r_embedded

Did the campus go overboard? Because of system relaxation of disciplinary standards over the course of decades, children began to get out of control. Violence increased, and thus schools adopted these "zero tolerance" policies. But where is the logic or common sense? I don't think it does an 11-year-old any good to be taken to jail for throwing food.

"My children have to appear in court," said Erica Russell, the mother of two eighth-grade girls who spent eight hours in jail. "They were handcuffed, slammed in a wagon, had their mug shots taken and treated like real criminals.

"They're all scared," Ms. Russell said of all of the arrested students. "You never know how children will be impacted by that. I was all for some other kind of punishment, but not jail. Who hasn't had a food fight?"

What do you think? Should the school have used these kids as an example? I wonder if that campus will experience another food fight any time soon. Yes, children need discipline, and too often, that discipline is lacking. But actions and policies without common sense are just crazy. Is it too much to ask for school officials to actually think through a situation and come up with a remedy that seems appropriate. Does that place too much personal responsibility on them? Maybe so. Maybe that's why they simply adopt a zero tolerance policy. Zero tolerance equals zero thinking equals zero accountability. "Don't blame me, blame the policy."

http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=141