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04:10:2002 Entry: "Close Your Mind and Count to Zero, Backwards."
Close Your Mind and Count to Zero, Backwards.
A big story lately in my part of the world is the case of 12-year-old straight A middle school student, Christian Schmidt, who brought a steak knife to school to cut an onion for a science project. Poor kid has been expelled since March 12. They brought in an independent examinor to mediate the situation. She is recommending the ending of his suspension to the school board, and stated "...if we haven't gotten the message to him that he made a mistake already - which, in fact, he's admitted - by suspending him for 15 days, we need our heads examined."
Nope, I don't agree. Well, I do agree on the head exam part. But the kid didn't make a mistake! He brought a steak knife to school to cut an onion for a science project. A science project. Tell me, how is one to perform science projects without the use of certain implements and materials that can be considered questionable in certain situations?
I know, let's ban science projects!
Like someone aluded to in a Wisconsin Public Radio call-in talk show, "Zero Tolerance," which this is a fine example of (and which I ranted against vociferously in my "about me" page), is another name for "Zero Sensibility." Educators want Zero Responsibility for making decisions on what is acceptable and what is not. No one wants to think. Why think? Thinking is hard. It's easier if we had rules like Zero Tolerance so we don't have to think and consider each situation on an individual basis.
Everyone is looking for a Columbine under every back pack, and all common sense has been thrown out the door. I'm sure Christian Schmidt had the purest of intentions with his steak knife. But if it were me in the same situation, I'd be so pissed that I'd now be tempted to use it against a few select administrators, whereas it never would've crossed my mind initially had they not made any fuss about it.
Everything that tries to be part of the solution seems to be more of the problem than anything.
14 Comments
Can't agree with you more. We live in an age of paranoid madness and lack of mental rigor is at the root of it.
Posted by Kivah Canyon @ 04/10/2002 10:46 AM CST
Did some paranoid teacher send him to the administration in the first place? And if so.. why? are teachers that scared of their students? or don't they bother to actually know their students so they can determine who's a real threat.
Or.. did another student turn the kid in... and the administration's hands were tied by the zero tolerance rule?
When I taught, I watched a Principal expel a 5 year old for bringing a water pistol to school, due to the zero tolerance policy on guns. If that Principal had done anything else, she would have lost her job.
As long as we create rules to fix society instead of creating communities and relationships, innocent good people will be hurt by the rules. Yet the fanatics will tell us that's better then innocent people being hurt due to not having rules. bah.. I don't believe that for a minute. Rules are always broken.
Posted by Leann @ 04/10/2002 11:38 AM CST
I have to say that I don't agree with the "zero tolerance" idea in schools (and I work in one), but I also don't think its "paranoid" teachers turning in students. What I have seen is that the safety of many depends on the teacher, and it doesn't matter why he has it, he has it. And some of the kids may be afraid or uncomfortable knowing there is a knife in his backpack (or whatever). They need to feel safe, and it falls to the adults to keep them feeling that way.
I agree with the "nobody wants to make a decision" as being the reason why zero tolerance comes down so hard. But, honestly, I don't want to be the one to make a "wrong" decision by thinking something is harmless and having someone hurt afterward.
Posted by chris @ 04/10/2002 11:45 AM CST
Wow, Leann, that's crazy re: the five year old and the water pistol. I remember when I was in Jr. High and on the last day of school they let us slack off and bring water pistols to class. It was fun!
Posted by Ann @ 04/10/2002 12:03 PM CST
It doesn't surprise me after a 15 year old girl in the US was suspended last year because she was a witch and putted a spell on the teacher so he got sick ;o]
Posted by Your future tangopartner @ 04/10/2002 01:45 PM CST
That's funny...I always got sick from the teachers and other students without them having to put a spell on me. But then, I'm a powerful receiver. Hmmm...I guess the whole student body and teaching staff would have to be suspended on my behalf if I had my say. Heh.
Yep, we's craaaazy in dese Yoo-nitud States we are.
Posted by Ann @ 04/10/2002 05:55 PM CST
Ok, so this is difficult. Whenever we had a Science project, we always knew the teacher would provide the knife for cutting whatever. The Science teachers always had cool props! *lol*
Still, I can't see punishing this poor kid like this! I think just taking away the knife, and telling him you are just being cautious so that he can't hurt himself of others would have been a viable alternative. All they had to do was explain to him that if he had say, fallen down the stairs with the knife in his backpack, it could have come through the material and stabbed him. Explain the possible problematic stiuations to the kid, and send him back to class without the knife. I think it is very clear here, that the poor kid meant no harm. Suspension is just waaaay over reacting! :op
Posted by Maria @ 04/11/2002 09:01 AM CST
I'm w/Maria...why didn't the school have a knife? Sure it would of been probably 30 years old (is that like that at everyone's school? The Science supplies are like as old as the school)
Posted by anita @ 04/11/2002 02:34 PM CST
All I can say is: "I have zero tolerance for zero tolerance."
Posted by Jane @ 04/11/2002 06:41 PM CST
a girl here in colorado about a year or so ago was fully suspended for bringing her mothers lunch instead of hers, byt accident. When she realized she had a knife in her lunchsack, she promtly went and gave it to an adult. But...because of "zero tolerance" she was booted out of school.
Yes, some rules suck, yet we need rules or anarchy reins. Yet, as is stated here in CO, Priciples AND administration people have the ability to MAKE DESCRETIONERY thoughts and rules as o how they are applied, and COULD have saved that girl from being booted out of school. THAT is where i think they have a gerkin stuck up there but and it's gone sour. Yes, have rules, but have some fucking comman sence...pahleese.
And i am sooooooo tired about the constant columbine comparasins...people ::not you all here ::: If you are worried about another one, start taking responsibility for your own kids AND their actions...find out who they hang with and what they do...yeah, we don't own the kid, but dammit, while they are livin in my house and on my turf, you better best your ass i know what's in their rooms and who the like and wht the hell they're doing on the computer...blah blah blah. And best of all...you should make sure you taught them right from wrong and manners before the age of 5.
Sigh....and just for the record, seeing as i live oh so close and knew folks, and even had friends in high school back way when at columbine...it IS and always WILL be a jock school....::don;t get me wrong, i do not condone what happened in the least, but i hated it when they kept portraing it as not a jock school, welcoming all different walks of life per say. Believe me, being a former and current freak, i certainly wasn't welcomed there yrs ago:::
oh...and while i am on a rant here, at my youngests school, on my favorite holiday and eve of the new year...Halloween, they cannot dress up as usual, they have to go as a favorite book charcter...bleh! but...true to rebellious form, we never follow that rule...;)
Posted by Lori @ 04/11/2002 07:13 PM CST
Hmmm...book character. But there are witches and demons in books too! Or didn't the admin. take that into consideration? ;-)
Couldn't agree with you more about Columbine. When I saw that happen three years ago, I kept having a mix of emotions of shock and horror over what happened combined with empathy for what those guys had gone through to make them feel so angry to lash out like that, combined with "how on earth could their parents be such oblivious materialistic career and money obsessed yuppies not know their kids were making bombs?!?!" There were three high schools in my town when I was that age...one was the "cowboy" school (Poudre High), one was the "jock" school (Rocky Mountain High--[ew...bad 70s schmaltz song]) and I went to the other one (Fort Collins High) which at the time was either the "freak" high or the "brain" high. I guess I was fortunate I went there...most people who went there came from the established parts of the town as opposed to the hills and ranches (Poudre) or the new suburbs (Rcky Mtn). Years after high school, I heard Fort Collins High was called "Bi-High" because of the larger proportion of openly gay and bisexual students. I don't know if that was simply descriptive or supposed to be disparaging, but I'm glad I didn't go to the either of the other two schools. At that time, my school was also the oldest building too...it had that old-fashioned look to it. I'm sure my high school life would've been even worse had I not attended Fort Collins High. Oddly enough, the worst high school experiences came from my own friends as opposed to the jocks. The jocks pretty much ignored us. Jr. High is when it was much worse, not just because of the jocks but the hoods as well. Maybe it's different for girls...we go through that really awful time in 5-9th grade, whereas the guys go through it later. What's my point? I guess I'm just babbling, but when I first saw Columbine High on TV, I could feel the pain and ostracization of attending that school....and I was old enough to be those kids' mother.
Posted by Ann @ 04/12/2002 09:41 AM CST
absolutly....
and yes, i don't think they thought of that either about the books. And also, even if you wanted to go as general mcarther, we're supposed to be "nice" about it...:::grumble grumble:::
Posted by Lori @ 04/12/2002 11:51 AM CST
"Everything that tries to be part of the solution seems to be more of the problem than anything. "
Or, as I would put it:
Half the world's problems are caused by people who just don't care. And the other half are caused by people who do.
Posted by Pat Hartman @ 04/13/2002 12:23 AM CST
Well I certainly agree with you, but I think half the problem is how poorly equipped schools are. He shouldn't have needed to bring his own knife for a science project because the appropriate tools should have already been available so as not to cause any confusion. In my own high school anatomy class, we didn't even have enough blades to dissect the animals that we had to share as it was (and I am not promoting animal dissection, but, goshdarnit, if you're going to have students doing the work you'd might as well equip them properly!). So I know that I'm going off the topic, really, but if they're so concerned about weapons, then they'd better make those kinds of things available on-campus to students who need them so that hard-working kids aren't missing 15 days of school for no reason.
Posted by Amber @ 04/17/2002 10:04 PM CST