NC Senate Vote Unanimously to Junk Zero Tolerance Policies in Schools

RALEIGH — North Carolina legislators appeared headed toward a bipartisan consensus that it may be time to junk the zero-tolerance policies against weapons and student violence that mushroomed after the Columbine school slayings in 1999.

The state Senate voted 50-0 Wednesday to approve revamping laws on student discipline, including an end to automatic suspensions for students who even appeared they could threaten or hurt others.

If the bill is approved by the House and signed into law, administrators starting with the coming school year in August will have greater leeway in deciding what justifies suspending a child from school.

The News & Observer

It’s too bad it took them 12 years to figure this out.  Zero tolerance policies are asinine and don’t work.  They unfairly punish good kids with no mal-intent because they allow “educators” to hide behind the law and avoid having to actually think on their own and apply common sense.  Case and point, I just happened to read this story yesterday, out of Maryland.

Varsity athlete Graham Dennis never thought of the pen knife he carried in his bag to repair his lacrosse stick’s strings as a dangerous weapon. It was a tool of the sport, he believed, until Easton High School officials found the item in a search of bags on a school bus headed for a game.

Dennis and teammate Casey Edsall, who had a lighter that he also used to repair equipment, were sent to the principal’s office and the police were called. Dennis was hauled off in handcuffs to be fingerprinted and charged as a juvenile with possession of a deadly weapon.

The school system’s handling of the punishment has enraged the 17-year-old boys’ parents and drawn criticism from some area residents who say the case is an example of Talbot County’s zero-tolerance policies gone amok. The incident comes just as members of the state board of education are raising concerns about whether some school system policies around Maryland are too harsh and deny students the right to an education.

Baltimore Messenger

This is why you don’t let the government get involved.  They create all of these feel good policies that they think will help you and more times than not they backfire.

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