Zero tolerance

Weapons, a thing designed or used for inflicting bodily harm or physical damage. There’s nothing worse than getting a phone call saying your child is being expelled for bringing a weapon to school. Kids have been kicked out of school for possession of Midol, Tylenol, Alka Seltzer, cough drops and Scope mouthwash - contraband that violates zero-tolerance, anti-drug policies. Students have been expelled for Halloween costumes that included paper swords and fake spiked knuckles, as well as for possessing rubber bands, slingshots and toy guns - all violations of anti-weapons policies. It does not matter what constitutes a weapon, and expelling a student fixes nothing, what matters is your voice on where you stand in weapons possession?

For safety reasons the school must take certain precautions. Shanon Coslet, a 10-year-old at Twin Peaks Charter Academy in Longmont, Colo., was expelled because her mother had put a small knife in her lunchbox to cut an apple. When Shanon realized the knife might violate the school's zero-tolerance policy, she turned it in to a teacher, who told her she had done the right thing. The child was expelled. Shanon's expulsion brought national ridicule to the St. Vrain Valley School District. She was featured on ABC's 20/20, which showed a videotape of the little girl weeping as the school board debated her fate. What expelling a student does is it accomplishes in socially embarrassing a kid thus creating a bigger problem - labeling a student as a danger. After that the kid can go to a different school but the real damage here is amiss. Whats to stop it from happening again or another student in a different school?

We cannot stop our children from eventually learning about the existence of violence, drugs or guns. We can try and make their surroundings safer, but with so much technological advances theres nothing kids can’t google today. Which is why we must