Zachary Christie, 6, was kicked out of Downes Elementary School for taking a Cub Scout eating utensil to school for lunchtime.
Fair? Reasonable? Ethical? Right?
Wrong!
A stupid zero-tolerance policy against weapons ensnarled a boy proud of his new Cub Scout affiliation and tool. Read the entire article in the New York Times here:
www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/education/12discipline.html?_r=1&hp
Could this happen in Woodstock? You betcha.
Should it happen? No way!
What in the world are we teaching and modeling for kids these days? They will be afraid to step on a crack in the sidewalk.
Zero-tolerance is for weapons! That's w-e-a-p-o-n-s.
Check the purses of all the teachers. Think you might find a nail file in one of them? In two or three? In all of them? Well, there's a weapon!
Check the glove compartment for a little pocketknife with a screwdriver. Is this taking a w-e-a-p-o-n onto school grounds?
How about that sharpened pencil in the teacher's shirt pocket? Sure looks like a weapon to me!
The time to find out about stupid school policies is now.
The next District 200 School Board meeting is - well, it seems that no future meetings of the D200 School Board are posted on its website http://www.woodstockschools.org/ The Board usually meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 7:00PM, and it has been meeting at the Clay PDC (that's Clay Academy, at 112 Grove Street (corner of Clay and Grove Streets)). The second Tuesday of this month is Tuesday, October 13.
Let's find out right now where District 200 starts on nonsensical positions like the one taken by Christina School District in Newark, Delaware. How many School Board members will be there with sharp objects in their pockets? All of them? They meet in a school. Should they all be arrested?
What did Zach have to say about all this?
“I just think the other kids may tease me for being in trouble,” he said, pausing before adding, “but I think the rules are what is wrong, not me.”
Now there is a smart young man! Want to support him? Go to http://www.helpzachary.com/ You'll find the address for the school and the superintendent's email address there.
You never know who is interested…
3 months ago
2 comments:
Along the same line...one year my wife and I were coming back from a vacation south of the border and at the airport they confiscated her one inch long screwdriver for tightening her eyeglass screws and let the next lady in line keep her 8 inch long pointed metal kniting needles....go figure. Some security.
It is somehow amazing how some people so fear their own decision making process that they throw all common sense out when following "rules" and making decisions.
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