“Who Are the Real Criminals in Our Schools?” – by Mike Lemay

I have a concern about children being persecuted by the school system for having weapons (a butter knife or a slingshot) in their car. The two incidents I know of involve kids who have near 4.0 GPAs and have no prior disciplinary issues at all. It seems the school system has taken the easy route of making a “black and white” policy that does not allow for any extenuating circumstances. If they really cared about the students they would take circumstances, prior history, and general performance into consideration before issuing a punishment. Also, if there was a problem with a child, what is a 10-90 day suspension really going to do anyways? If they really cared about the safety of the other students and the welfare of the offender they would have some kind of psych evaluation done to insure they were not a danger to themselves or others. But as is usually the case the administration has taken the low road, suspension. A symbolic gesture to show that they are actually “doing something” about school violence, but in reality does NOTHING but ease the conscience of an out of touch administration!

submitted April 18, 2009