ZERO TOLERANCE TEACHES KIDS THERE'S ZERO ROOM FOR THOUGHT

Policy Is Stupid

``Stupid is as stupid does'' -- Forrest Gump

One imagines the students who told their parents they planned to
boycott the high school graduation found themselves facing a
high-decibel lecture that began with, ``Are you out of your mind?''
and ended with, ``I don't want to hear another word about it!''

Still, I have to admire these young people who sought to take a stand
on behalf of a mistreated classmate.

By which I mean Lindsay Brown, who was denied the right to graduate
with them. Oh, she had the grades and the credits to do so. She was a
National Merit Scholar. But she ran afoul of ``zero tolerance,'' that
'80s buzzword turned millennium policy. Brown, 18, was suspended,
arrested on felony charges and banned from Tuesday's ceremony after a
steak knife was found on the floorboard of her car while it was parked
at the campus. Though Brown is described as a good kid who has never
been in serious trouble, she could lose her college scholarship as a
result of the arrest.

Brown, by the way, says the knife probably fell out of a box while she
was moving into her new place. Sounds reasonable to me.

Unfortunately, zero tolerance doesn't care about what's reasonable.
Nor has it any use for discretion, judgment, common sense,
proportionality or any other fallible human characteristic. Under zero
tolerance policies, which came into voguein the past decade, school
administrators have neither time nor patience for explanations or
mitigating circumstances.

Maybe it seemed a good idea once. But over the years, zero tolerance
has proven one of the most stupid philosophies ever imposed upon
anyone by anybody, at any time, anywhere. It was supposed to be a
crackdown, but the crackdown has cracked up, creating idiocy beyond
parody.

You think Lindsay Brown is unique? Consider these headlines from
recent years:

- - In Ohio, a 13-year-old honor student is suspended for bringing Midol
to school. Violation of zero tolerance drug policy.

- - In Washington state, a 10-year-old is expelled for bringing the tiny
toy gun from a GI Joe action figure. Violation of zero tolerance
weapons policy.

- - In North Carolina, a first-grader is suspended for kissing a
classmate on the cheek. Violation of zero tolerance sexual harassment
policy.

- - In Colorado, a six-year-old is suspended for candy lemon drops. Drug
policy.

Yes, drugs, violence and sexual harassment are all legitimate --
indeed, pressing -- issues. But I'm impatient with the idea that this
modern McCarthyism demonstrates our concern or teaches our children
anything of value. To the contrary, it demonstrates only our
simple-minded love of the quick fix. And as for what it teaches, try
intellectual inflexibility. Try intellectual cowardice.

Lindsay Brown was denied her graduation for no good reason. Instead,
school officials point to the fact that they acted only according to
the rules, which sounds not unlike some soldier on trial for
atrocities who insists that he was only following orders. I mean,
maybe they've got a point, maybe he does, too, but at some juncture,
don't you have to stand up and take responsibility for being a human
being?

We send kids to school to teach them how to think.