6 Year Old Suspended For Zero Tolerance

[Bruno@MT]

My 8 year old Nephew just went back to school last week, he had some serious surgery two weeks earlier. One of his classmates walked up and gave him a hug. Fine right? Nope, zero tolerance for touching up here, the little girl was told by her teacher that she’s not allowed to touch anyone at all.

Can someone tell me what the hell happened to common sense?

It got sued.

 

[Jade Tigress]

It got sued.

Sad but true. I too am of the "what happened to common sense" train of thought. It's absolutely ridiculous. Kudos to Geo for her letter. :asian:

 

[arnisador]

Lawsuits--that's the reason. You can't be too careful, apparently.

What happened to the common sense of juries?

 

[Archangel M]

I don't know about the lawsuit thing. In most of these cases where some 6 yo brings a butterknife to school w/his lunch, who is the victim? It's a different story if the kiddo threatens a classmate with it...that kids parents could sue, but in THIS case? Is the school gonna sue itself?

 

[arnisador]

They reduced the suspension:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33289924/ns/today-today_people/

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I dunno, I think they should have given him the death penalty. Maybe public stoning or something to put more fear into his classmates and make them more obedient.



That's sarcasm.

 

[shesulsa]

One has to wonder what made them change their minds. It seems at first they were going to uphold the rule, but once national press was involved and email boxes became full (I got the message on one email addy) perhaps common sense kicked in.

 

[Lynne]

Poor little fella. I hope his parents choose home school for the rest of his education. Who wants to put up with such nonsense in the public schools?

 

[Archangel M]

They reduced the suspension:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33289924/ns/today-today_people/

From that article:

Christina, which, according to its Web site, is the largest school district in Delaware with some 17,000 students, made its policy zero-tolerance because of concerns over racial discrimination. Studies have shown in other districts that when school officials are given discretion over such cases, African-American students are disciplined at a disproportionately high rate.

These are probably the same people who ***** about manditory sentencing and it's racial unfairness.

 

[5-0 Kenpo]

From that article:


These are probably the same people who ***** about manditory sentencing and it's racial unfairness.

I don't get it.

 

[Archangel M]

This is "manditory sentencing" on it's face. Because we don't want to be unfair, ALL kids will get the same punishment regardless of the circumstances.

Im wagering that these school administrators would be amongst the first to complain about the unfairness in our justice system but look at how they deal with issues of discipline within their own little "kingdom".

 

[grydth]

It is mandatory sentencing on its face, without the brains behind it.

How often it would be preferable to see the actual bad guys receive mandatory sentencing - after a full and fair set of proceedings to determine they in fact had committed a crime.

Funny how "zero tolerance" is so often used to quasi-criminalize good kids... while at the same time it seems the bad kids, the bullies and dealers, continue to get off light.

 

[Jade Tigress]

UPDATE

BEAR, Del. – A Delaware first-grader who was facing 45 days in an alternative school as punishment for taking his favorite camping utensil to school can return to class after the school board made a hasty change granting him a reprieve.

What? Common sense is actually being discussed? I'm shocked!

School board member John Mackenzie told The Associated Press before the meeting that he was surprised school officials did not use common sense and disregard the policy in Zachary's case. The need for common sense to prevail over the letter of the law was a recurring theme among the boy's supporters and school safety experts.


"When that common sense is missing, it sends a message of inconsistency to students, which actually creates a less safe environment," said Kenneth S. Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, a consulting firm. "People have to understand that assessing on a case-by-case basis doesn't automatically equate to being soft or unsafe."

 

[Andy Moynihan]

From that article:


These are probably the same people who ***** about manditory sentencing and it's racial unfairness.

If 70% of kids who get disciplined are ( insert race here) in a school district where 70% of the POPULATION is ( insert race here), that's not racial profiling, that's the Law of Averages.

 

[Korppi76]

I notice this little bit similar case

 

[shesulsa]

This makes you wonder about how many schools are getting away with doling out punishment like this without being checked by the school board, doesn't it?

 

[shesulsa]

If 70% of kids who get disciplined are ( insert race here) in a school district where 70% of the POPULATION is ( insert race here), that's not racial profiling, that's the Law of Averages.

Yeah, not quite enough stats in the articles I found to figure that out in this case (but I honestly didn't dig too deeply).

 

[MA-Caver]

If 70% of kids who get disciplined are ( insert race here) in a school district where 70% of the POPULATION is ( insert race here), that's not racial profiling, that's the Law of Averages.

It was the same at my grade school growing up. There was more of one race than the other and the number of kids that got into fights/trouble were of that majority race. The number of fights I got into with that particular race was directly proportional.

But this topic isn't about race is it?

 

[jim777]

My heart broke for that kid when I first saw that story. He's just about my son Seamus's age, who is also a Cub Scout, and I know how happy he must have been with this super, ultra cool new toy. How could you not want to show it off to everyone you know when it is sooo cool?! It's way cooler than a magnifying glass and maybe even a new baseball glove, and those are both pretty cool too

I'm glad it has ended quickly and positively for the boy and his mom. It really should never have gotten beyond the teacher taking it away and giving it back to him at the end of the day with a stern "Don't bring it back in to school, please".

 

[Andy Moynihan]

It was the same at my grade school growing up. There was more of one race than the other and the number of kids that got into fights/trouble were of that majority race. The number of fights I got into with that particular race was directly proportional.

But this topic isn't about race is it?

No. I was directly responding to Arch.