Welcome to the idiocy of zero tolerance rules.

This adult power tripping, straw bossing is all at the expense of a six year old boy. This little boy who has been known to wear a suit and tie to school because that's how into it he is, took his cup scout fork, spoon and knife set to school to eat his lunch with and wound up suspended and sent to a reform school for 45 days. The parents are fighting back and appealing. Good luck to them. If I was a lawyer, I'd take their case for free.

Read if you have the stomach for it here. And here's a snippet from the New York Times:

 Quote:
“Zachary wears a suit and tie some days to school by his own choice because he takes school so seriously,” said Debbie Christie, Zachary’s mother, who started a Web site, helpzachary.com, in hopes of recruiting supporters to pressure the local school board at its next open meeting on Tuesday. “He is not some sort of threat to his classmates.”

Still, some school administrators argue that it is difficult to distinguish innocent pranks and mistakes from more serious threats, and that the policies must be strict to protect students.
Are they kidding? They cant' tell the difference between a six year old with a cub scout utensil and a kid who wants to hurt people with a knife? And when was the last time a six year old had a vendetta? If these people can't tell the difference, they need to look for another line of work.

And:
 Quote:
Critics contend that zero-tolerance policies like those in the Christina district have led to sharp increases in suspensions and expulsions, often putting children on the streets or in other places where their behavior only worsens, and that the policies undermine the ability of school officials to use common sense in handling minor infractions. ( ya think?)

For Delaware, Zachary’s case is especially frustrating because last year state lawmakers tried to make disciplinary rules more flexible by giving local boards authority to, “on a case-by-case basis, modify the terms of the expulsion.”

The law was introduced after a third-grade girl was expelled for a year because her grandmother had sent a birthday cake to school, along with a knife to cut it. The teacher called the principal — but not before using the knife to cut and serve the cake.


I think quoting Forest Gump is appropriate here: "Stupid is as stupid does."
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SCIENTIA EST POTENTIA
Knowledge is power