A Rant about Zero Tolerance In Schools Today

[anonomoose]

Well about 6 years ago, maybe a bit more...all of this came to light and there was a "standardization" of what where and when to do whatever under circumstances which dictate very rigid guidelines for what the school...HAS TO DO.

This was the same time STATE wide, no smoking by anyone on school grounds.

This is automatic suspension stuff...bring a weapon to school, and out you go, and no grounds for appeal 6 full months.

Knife sharpener seems suspect, but perhaps if it was a knife sharpener that was also a knife scabbard, then the rule would apply and if the kid didn't get suspended he was lucky. These are rules set down by the State which all schools must abide by.

And I don't buy the argument that you might not know about what your kid is up to, as that is exactly your job as a parent. Sometimes kids do stupid stuff, and every now and again, they will deliberately deceive you and break the rules. But each kid HAS to be told the rules and if they ignore the rules then the school has no choice but to lay down the law as it applies to them. Not sure what happens if they make an exception, but I know there is very strict adherence to these rules STATE wide.

Problem is that there are a bunch of people who wouldn't know one end of a shotgun from the other, setting guidelines up for what is and isn't a qualifying infraction. Now there is a dangerous thing if there ever was one.

 

[sledheadbrp]

I can't help but think that there might be more to this story? A knife sharpener is a weapon? Kind of hard to believe.

 

[tomx]

The information in my rant is accurate and complete. Scary huh?

 

[frnash]

russholio:

I love the PARENTING poster, that's like my belief that the "greeter" at Wally World should hand out leashes and duct tape to the parents with six unruly, ill-mannered, undisciplined rug rats!

 

[nic]

Ugh, my girls are only 1 & 3- I can't imagine what it will be like when they start school. I see these stories on the news every once in a while and they always get to me. A transformer w/ a tiny plastic gun? I can see a knife sharpener being a weaper just b/c they are generally long and narrow and I suppose if you REALLY wanted to, could stab someone- but that sounds more like something that would happen in jail. If they sent my 11yr old to the police station- I would be IRATE. That is absolutely NOT ok. How traumatizing for your nephew.
That being said- I would definitely be searching for the very specific details on was wrong w/ it. I'm assuming knives are clearly spelled out somewhere as no-nos. But probably not a knife sharpener. Do they have a generic 'weapon' statement? Because that's just ridiculous. You could say their math book is a weapon b/c it's big and heavy and someone could whack another kid with it. Like someone else said- what the heck happened to common sense???
My ONE hesitation would be to find out what the punishment is for a teacher who does not report something. If they face disciplinary action and/or termination b/c they fail to report something- I'm thinking that could cause them to be sticklers over this stuff. I would like to think if I was a teacher, I would have taken it away, put it in my desk drawer, and given it back to him at the end of the day w/ an explanation of why he can never bring it back to school. Maybe call mom just to let her know what went down. Or a possible trip to the principal's office as an extra scare tactic. But if I could lose my job b/c I didn't take those steps of calling the police (still ridiculous in my book) or whatever- that might change my mind. God forbid another teacher sees it, kid tells teacher Mrs. so and so saw it and didn't have a problem, now teacher #2 reports it AND the fact that I knew he had it and now I'm in trouble as well. Tough call.
I'm also pretty shocked that the police took to the station. Was he literally transported in the back of a police car like a criminal? I'd want to know the protocol on that one as well. When you remove my child from school- shouldn't I get called? I would have a real hard time with the fact that he was placed in a vehicle (they have to get permission slips to go on field trips and leave school grounds) and removed from school.

 

[bigvin]

I can remember an awkward moment (WAY BACK) when I was in the
5th grade,....
I was headed to the library,... turned the corner in the hallway,...
and there was this 6th grade science teacher just Whailing away with
a homeade oak paddle (with holes drilled in it to let the air pass through more quickly),...
on this kid. Man that had to hurt. But the kid,....trying to be cocky,..
was yelling "oh ya,... and you think that one hurt?!"
Man,...
I just sped up my pace and pretended I didn't see a thing,...
Today, that dude would probably just be getting out of jail!

 

[jonesin]

bigvin,
I remember getting the paddle treatment, ONCE, that was enough to teach me a lesson!

 

[revman]

Pretty easy to complain about zero tolerance until it's your kid's or grandkid's school that has a kid bring a gun or knife and does try to do harm. Then it will be the administrator's or teacher's fault for not doing more, right?

You can't compare how your high school was from the 50's-80's to today's schools. Apples to oranges. We didn't have the problems that we have now. There were no Columbines back then.

I feel for your nephew, and it probably wasn't handled correctly, but I'd like to hear the teacher's and admin's point of view. I want to hear what they saw and heard.

Just my opinion...let the arrows fly (no pun intended).

 

[jroz]

I think everyone has to remember that it isn't "the good old days" anymore. What you used to get away with when you were younger, just isn't acceptable today. I used to spend summer days playing sports, exploring the river banks, swimming in places I wasn't supposed to be, basically pushing the envelope of what my parents would allow me to do, from sunrise to sundown. Now kids sit in front of a video game or PC all day, and the main reason is that parents always want to know where their kids are. Things have changed as far as kids being safe from pedophiles and gangs and such. Our society has become one of too many lawsuits, punishing drug dealers harder than murderers, too many stupid laws, regulations, and codes of conduct. I would prefer that they brought back the wood paddles in schools, rather than coddle everybody. Not everyone has what it takes to become a doctor, lawyer, or CEO, so the schools shouldn't lump everyone together and say they are equal. Judge Smails in "Caddyshack" said it best..."the world needs ditchdiggers, too!"

 

[frnash]

It's still shocking to me to see what has happened to our schools.
The next thing will be uniforms for the students:

 

[russholio]

I think everyone has to remember that it isn't "the good old days" anymore. What you used to get away with when you were younger, just isn't acceptable today. I used to spend summer days playing sports, exploring the river banks, swimming in places I wasn't supposed to be, basically pushing the envelope of what my parents would allow me to do, from sunrise to sundown. Now kids sit in front of a video game or PC all day, and the main reason is that parents always want to know where their kids are. Things have changed as far as kids being safe from pedophiles and gangs and such. Our society has become one of too many lawsuits, punishing drug dealers harder than murderers, too many stupid laws, regulations, and codes of conduct. I would prefer that they brought back the wood paddles in schools, rather than coddle everybody. Not everyone has what it takes to become a doctor, lawyer, or CEO, so the schools shouldn't lump everyone together and say they are equal. Judge Smails in "Caddyshack" said it best..."the world needs ditchdiggers, too!"

I'd have to agree with most of that, except the part about kids sitting in front of video games and PC's because of parents always wanting to know where their kids are. I think it's more because it's easier to let a machine babysit your kid than for the parent to actually spend time with him/her. Not that my theory pertains to all parents, of course. But I'll go out on a limb and say there's a good chance that Columbine wouldn't have happened if those scumbags' parents had been the least bit interested in where their kids were, what they were doing, and who/what they were doing it with.

But yeah, not everybody is equal and I'd have to concur with Judge Smails' oh-so-eloquent assessment!

 

[revman]

It's still shocking to me to see what has happened to our schools.
The next thing will be uniforms for the students:

Here's something you might find interesting about school uniforms too. From an Educational study that was done in the 90's.

-------

A case study of the effects of adopting school uniforms in Long Beach, CA which appeared in Psychology Today in September, 1999, reported the following effects from the switch to uniforms in 1995:

Overall, the crime rate dropped by 91%
School suspensions dropped by 90%
Sex offenses were reduced by 96%
Incidents of vandalism went down 69%

Also reporting on the Long Beach Unified School District, an Education Week article in 1998 reported that since 1994, assaults in grades Kindergarten through 8 had decreased by 85%.

--------

Interesting to say the least.

REVman

 

[kevisip]

Well, the whiners are at it again!! I am off to council meeting on campers!! Some one in the
neighborhood thinks there should be a zero tolerance on storing a camper or a boat on your own property. What is up with these people. It will never end until you either have nothing left of what it means to be an American...

 

[jonesin]

Imagination

So, today I heard on the radio that a kindergardener at a school near us in Michigan was suspended for pretending to shoot a gun with his fingers in the hallway at school.
What is next?
I received a nasty e-mail this morning and I wanted to beat the ##$$^% out of the sender. Should I turn myself in to the cops becouse I imagined/wanted to do great bodily harm?

 

[yamahauler]

kevin: My neighbor always complains about his neighbor who has a trailer, storage shed, dock, wood and what not piled up along side the house.

My opinion is that it is put there neatly so it doesn't bother me. There are things in our supposedly ordinances that restrict somethings but come on people.

I think sometimes what happens is it turns into one thing, then two, then three and the next thing you know, it's a junk yard next door.

I do know on thing...I will never build without a min of 5 acres wooded....that way I have enough room to put crap and it won't be seen.