I hope you have all heard of McGyver. I was in love with this TV show back in the 1980’s and dare I say in love with McGyver himself! Who doesn’t joke about fixing anything broken with a gum wrapper, a paper clip, a blade of grass and a drop of cooking oil? Ahhhhh…. Enough reminiscing.
I was just appalled after reading the dramatic story of the violent student who brought a lethal weapon to school. That violent student was Zachary Christie and he is a 6 year old first grader. He is now facing a sentence of 45 days in the schools reform school because of his violation of the school’s zero tolerance weapons policy. His story and his fate have me wondering what was really meant by zero tolerance and has its use gone too far? This poor hapless first grader just wanted to show off his new Swiss army type camping tool. He is six. No prior history of misbehaving. He even wears a suit and tie to school because he loves being in school so much. How can such a harsh punishment fit this situation? I am curious. How big is the class of 1st graders in this districts reform school? The mother is home schooling Zachary until the matter gets cleared up. As a public school teacher, I am not and will never be a proponent of home schooling, except in a case like this. Can you imagine the long lasting implications this little boy would experience if he had to comply with this punishment? His first day in class might include a conversation like this: Hi, what did you do to land in here? Oh, you stabbed someone in a gang fight? Yeah me? I brought my cub scout silverware tool to school to show my friends. Wanna play?
Since I found this article and decided to blog about it, much of this story has unfolded. On Tuesday night, the day after the story broke the school board of the Christina school district in Delaware reversed their decision and allowed Zachary to return to school. They also decided to revise the zero tolerance policy.
This is not the only time a zero tolerance policy has affected the plight of unsuspecting students. Matthew Whalen was suspended for having a pocket knife locked away in his car in the school parking lot. His punishment has many more implications affecting his future than little Zachary’s did. He has high post-secondary education expectations that could crumble because of his punishment. The list of these instances goes on and on. It is not a new issue. I know in this day and age, safety has to be at the forefront of our schools intentions. But like anything else ever imaginable, one size does not fit all. A blanket tolerance policy can’t possibly be the answer. The repercussions these students face because of their unintentional actions due to a highly flawed zero tolerance policy is unfathomable. It is simply unjust. What is the answer? I don’t know. Any ideas?
Even though I do not agree with Zachary’s consequences, I am wondering where do schools draw the line. Sure he is 6 but he brought something to school that is NOT allowed. I think there needs to be specific guidelines in place for students who violate the policy and those policies need to be followed no matter what. Perhaps the guidelines need to be different for students who have never had any prior disciplinary problems and students who have had disciplinary problems. I also think that sometimes the parents of the little children need to have some kind of consequence. I say this because I once had a student ask me if he could play with this thing in his backpack. I ask what it was. He said I’ll show you and he pulled out a BB gun! This student was also 6. I felt like there should have been some serious actions taken because our school has a zero tolerance policy. Nothing happened. NOTHING! The principal gave the dad the BB gun back the next day and that was it.
ReplyDeleteI had a student last year (I teach 2nd grade) who brought a toy gun to school. I knew he didn't mean any harm by bringing it; he wanted to show it for show and tell. I had confiscated it before he was able to bring it into my room, and his mom had to come and pick it up from the principal's office. She was absolutely astounded when I called, because she had no idea he had brought it to school. Now normally he would have been suspended and I think it is similar to Zachary's situation. But my principal sat down with him and had a talk about what his intentions were for bringing this type of item to school. Some people I have told this story to could not believe he wasn't suspended. I think we get so wrapped up in it all we forget that kids can just be kids sometimes. A little boy who brings a pocket knife to school might just want to show how cool it looks and not go on a killing spree. But, how do you know the difference? I agree there needs to be a standard for dealing with this type of situation, but I also agree there needs to be guidelines in reference to severity and each situation be handled when it comes up.
ReplyDeleteGreat topic!