- Posted by maedstudent on March 5, 2008
Zero Tolerance in Schools
My local State University approved the use of assault rifles for the campus police to carry in the squad cars. What has this world come to that our own campus police have to carry assault rifles? Has violence and rage in schools been suppressed so much in the past that now people are more apt to act on their feelings than before? I think that because of the Internet the digital natives (people that were born into digital technology and no nothing else), of today are exposed to more sex and violence then I was as a child. Being angry and violent seems to be main stream in today’s society. But should a student’s life be changed because he/she brought a butter knife to class to cut his /her peanut butter sandwich at lunch? I think redefinition of zero-tolerance is important so as to not ruin ones’ life and academic success because of a mis-understanding.
I have seen many students get expelled for bringing knives to school, but the purpose of the knives were misconstrued and the students were still punished. Zero-tolerance. Another individual got ten days suspension for bringing a needle to class, zero-tolerance. The sentence finally got over turned when the parent produced proof that her son was diabetic and needed to have regular insulin shots done. According to the Principal, the parent should have supplied the school nurse with the insulin and the student would be excused regularly to get administered the insulin. This way, the needle poses no threat to any students. At least this is what the school thinks.
My whole point here is zero-tolerance is good when consequences are reasonably set, but I can see how there can be a gray-area to so many things, and that maybe zero-tolerance should be renamed ‘almost’ zero-tolerance, or put an asterisk next to it in print.
Special thanks to Becca Case for the word “Digital Native”.