I believe that the zero tolerance policy is very unfair because it punishes everyone for the problems of few. Even if you 're the best student in the school and have never taken any drugs or used any weapons except for the butter knife, you still have to feel uncomfortable as if you really have used drugs or weapons. For example, in the article by Jesse Katz, when it talks about the girl who got Midol to school and shared it with another girl with the sole purpose of easing menstrual cramps. Kimberly, the girl who had gotten the drug along with Erica, the girl that received the drug got a ten-day suspension. The parents of Kimberly got the district later on with a federal lawsuit for racial discrimination because the school suspended Kimberly, who is black, for 80 more days because she had the drug.
Another example from the article of this unfairness would be the seventh grader from West Virginia who shared a zinc cough drop with his friend.
Cited: (2001, 10). Zero Tolerance: Doubtful Indeed. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 10, 2001, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Zero-Tolerance-Doubtful-Indeed-33848.html Koch, Kathy. "Zero Tolerance for School Violence: Is Mandatory Punishment in Schools Unfair?" CQ Researcher Online 10.9 10 Mar. 2000. 185-208. CQ Press. Web. 4 Nov 2011. Billitteri, Thomas. "Discipline in Schools: Are Zero-Tolerance Policies Fair?" CQ Researcher Online 18.7 15 Feb. 2008. 148-168. CQ Press. Web. 4 Nov 2011. Rachel, et al., "Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2007," National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, and Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, December 2007, Web. 4 Nov. 2011.