Zero Tolerance; Zero Critical Thinking

School is where we send our children not only to learn—reading, writing, arithemetic—but also, one would hope, to think. It’s hard to see how kids are supposed to do that, though, when they go to schools where the grown-ups appear incapable of engaging in any form of critical thought or useful decision-making.

Via InstaPundit comes today’s “zero-tolerance policy” nightmare. Glenn points to a New York Times story about Zachary Christie, a 6-year-old from Delaware who is facing 45 days in a school for juvenile delinquents because he brought a utensil to school that was an all-in-one fork, spoon, and ... knife. You can see from the picture that the knife is tiny and designed for use as a utensil. But the school called it a “weapon” and suspended him.

It’s a big “duh” that kids shouldn’t be bringing weapons to school. No switch blades, no hunting knives, heck, I can’t think of a reason to bring a steak knife. But there is a wide, comfy berth for common sense somewhere in between “dagger” and “Cub Scout utensil.” And in Delaware the state code that prohibits “deadly weapons” on school grounds also permits schools to “on a case by case basis, modify the terms of the expulsion or determine that expulsion is not appropriate.” In other words, for grown-ups who are still grasping at reading comprehension, it means a school can do the right thing and NOT suspend a first-grader who wears a suit and tie to school some days and who participates in the talent show and the science fair and Little League.

Tags: education, schools, zero-tolerance policy

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Rachael Larimore Slate copy chief and mother of three. Addicted to coffee, Facebook, and the Sprout channel.

Comments

why is it the schools fault?

By: katmandaddy | Wed, 10/14/2009 - 09:50

both my daughter and son received camping knives when they were old enough to understand the responsibility it imposed. Number one:NEVER TAKE IT TO SCHOOL. If there were no fork or spoon attached but just a 2 1/2 to 3 inch folding knife would it still be as cute? Zero tolerance might be distastefully unyielding but it keeps the conversation limited to the offense not the particulars of the offender. The human element needs to be brought in as a lesson for the child, the parents, the Den Mother/Pack leader, the school for gosh sakes. We all need to teach. No.1:No weapons, or drugs (OTC, perscription, or illicit) in school. You should even take off your shoes; It is sacred ground.

Duh! on both sides

By: Kapt Z | Wed, 10/14/2009 - 09:44

Teacher should have confiscated pocket knife and notified principal to have a 'talk' with student and a 'warning' to parent. Parent retrieves pocket knife from principal at end of day. The End.
Parent should have instructed student, in the first place, that said pocket knife was only to be carried on campouts and was NEVER, EVER to be taken to school.
We all figure the kid meant no harm, but don't fool yourselves those Cub Scout pocket knives are as sharp as razors! My parents wouldn't even let me have one until I was almost 10 and I still have a scar on my left hand from 'being 10 with a sharp knife'.
No points to parent or school admin on this one.

Zero Tolerance = No Complaints About Disparate Treatment

By: Stumpy Joe Peeps | Tue, 10/13/2009 - 21:48

The point of the Zero Tolerance Policy is to prevent the school administrator from having to use case-by-case discretion in deciding the punishment for certain activities. If all kids get X punishment for Y activity, the parents can't complain/sue on the basis that their child was singled out or was the subject of some form of bias. I'm sympathetic to such policies. I was once the President of a large condo association, and every seemingly innocuous "common sense" decision I made was met with complaints; it was exhausting to deal with.

Zero Tolerance Policies should have some flexibility on the margins, however. In the hands of blinkered administrators, we see cases like the one described by InstaPundit above. But don't you expect that if this 6 year old was let off the hook, the parents of some other 8 or 9 year old will moan and complain about how THEIR child was punished for the "same thing"?

This is intellectually lazy.

By: Punditus Maximus | Tue, 10/13/2009 - 21:21

Yes, of course zero-tolerance policies are fantastically stupid. But if everyone agrees with this, why did they come about? What's the history? Who proposed them?

zero tolerance

By: njteacher | Tue, 10/13/2009 - 19:03

Zero tolerance policies extend way beyond our children's schools. Look at the populations serving time behind bars, juvenile and adult alike. We became zealous for zero-tolerance policies and prisons in reaction to increasing crime rates and school violence. But, these irresponsible reactions had far-reaching consequences...including an incident as ridiculous as Zachary Christie and his family faces. Poor kiddo...I hope that school faces some tough consequence for hurting this child in this manner. But, I'm thinking that schools aren't the only places where adults have grown accustomed to making decisions sans critical thinking.

Wait? Think? Really?

By: grocer | Tue, 10/13/2009 - 16:33

Excuse my cynicism...maybe before No Child Left Behind...not now. Public schools have one task now and it's to teach to the test...here's how to fill in the little bubbles. As to the zero tolerance weapon policy, this is what fuzzy, feel good yet ineffective security measures result in...annoyance and hassle for the rule followers while not doing anything real to prevent future Columbines.

amen

By: lorikay4 | Tue, 10/13/2009 - 16:12

One of the clearest ways to be sure that something is really really screwed up is if I find myself in complete and total head nodding at my computer screen agreement with Ms. Larimore on any question of educational policy. Up until now, I would have bet we could have substantively disagreed on the operation of gravity.

We could also call zero tolerance 'zero ability to take responsibility', because that is the effect of these policies.

However (and there is always a 'however') it is worth noting that these idiotic misbegotten policies seem to have SOME origins in the fact that policies that contained any scope for school personnel to exercise discretion seemed to result in consistently harsher penalties being exacted against African American students for the same infractions. Zero tolerance was selected as the only set of policies that wouldn't admit any possibility of racially tinged disciplinary decisions. So now it sucks equally for everyone. Orwell would be proud.

Once again, the world is screwed up and made more miserable and odious by racism.

why are they there

By: swmobill | Tue, 10/13/2009 - 15:43

good column. This is the school district's method of copping out of doing their job. If a state is mandating it, then the state needs to butt out. The easy way is having "zero tolerance." that means you don't have to think. my company did the same with raises this year, some HR formula dictates how much we get, not our boss or her boss. School are afraid to tell a parent that Johnny got a harsher sentence than Bobby because Johnny is a problem all the time and he needed suspended. While Bobby is the all around best student in the school. Life doesn't treat everyone the same.