March 15, 2008...4:57 pm
Yo, I got your Mallomar hookup. Meet me at 1pm and come alone…
“What does it take for a school to suspend an eighth-grader, bar his attendance from an honors dinner, and strip him of his post as class Vice President? If you guessed drugs, alcohol, or a firearm, think again. A bag of candy is reason enough. This week, a Connecticut school levied these very punishments on an honor student with no history of misconduct, just for buying a bag of Skittles from his classmate. School officials are hiding behind their “Wellness Policy”—which prohibits bake sales, classroom pizza parties, and the sale of candy—as justification for the harsh disciplinary action.”
(source: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/headline/3582 - which lists a few other absurd ideas like putting cigarette style warning labels on milk and dairy products)
Here is another prime example why zero tolerance doesn’t work. I understand wanting to keep drugs out of school but there is a distinct difference between a speedball and tylenol. I understand wanting to give kids healthy options in school but there’s a difference between having McDonald’s advertise on your report card and having a snickers between class. Zero tolerance does not recognize that.
Would you be behind the same penalty for someone caught speeding 1 mile over the speed limit as well as 60 miles over the limit? How about someone caught stealing a loaf of bread as someone that embezzled millions of dollars? Or better yet the same penalty for someone who litters fast food wrapper on the sidewalk as someone that dumps toxic chemicals into the drinking water supply? No one in the right mind would advocate these things yet we allow them in our schools.
Does anyone really feel that this crime deserves this punishment? An honors student on the student government is suspended cause he wanted to taste the rainbow?! Is this is the school’s biggest issue to be addressing? They don’t have kids fucking behind the bleachers, toking up in the parking lot or being harassed and beat up by bullies? Perhaps these would be better things to focus on instead of the eating habits of one of these star pupils. But maybe that’s just me…
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