We've had numerous discussions about idiotic zero-tolerance policies run amok in our schools.
I don't know if this is the most outrageous, but the response in this incident is draconian by any standard.
Why is it necessary to criminalize every infraction an innocent child commits, such as a first grader kissing a girl or the one listed below?
This week’s outrage comes to us from Winchendon, Massachusetts where, in yet another case of “zero-tolerance” enforcement defying common
sense, fourth-grader Bradley Geslak was suspended from Toy Town Elementary School for bringing a Memorial Day souvenir to school.
According to a May 29, Telegram.com article, a uniformed veteran gave the 10-year-old two empty rifle shell casings from blanks used during the
town’s Memorial Day celebration Monday morning. Bradley gave one of the empty casings to his grandfather and kept the other as a souvenir. The
trouble began when he took his souvenir to school the next day.
[...]
A teacher saw him with the harmless piece of brass and confiscated it. Ms. Geslak was then called at work and told to come and pick up her son, who
had been suspended for five days!
[...]
To add insult to injury, the family says a school official told them that the shell would not be returned, and that the next step might involve
assigning a probation officer to Bradley! Yes, you read that right, a probation officer.
www.nraila.org...
[edit on 2008/6/2 by GradyPhilpott]
