KIDS THESE DAYS: CUT THEM A BREAK

We're baffled by two high-profile disciplinary decisions made by two
schools. One was to suspend a student in Juneau, Alaska, for waving a
"Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner while the 2002 Olympic torch went by (a
prank pulled off school grounds and intended to get him on TV). The
school's overreaction to the minor prank has turned a joke into a
First Amendment case before the Supreme Court, with Kenneth Starr (!)
representing the Alaska school board. Kind of makes us wonder who is
really taking the bong hits.

The other decision involves punishing a kid for wearing a pair of
Tigger-adorned socks on the first day of school in Napa County, Calif.
According to the lawsuit filed against the school district by the ACLU
on behalf of the 14-year-old student, the girl was escorted to the
principal's office by a police officer and ultimately put in a program
called Students with Attitude Problems. Of course. Everyone knows how
dangerous Tigger is. The girl was also wearing a two-tone shirt
(brown, with a pink border), which is against school rules (natch).
Only solid colors are allowed. How many parents out there wish that
their teens expressed their "attitude problems" via an innocuous pair
of socks?

We agree there's a need for school rules that keep students safe. No
belly shirts, no cuss words on clothing, no gang gear. But the banner
and the socks are minor. And what are these schools ultimately
teaching kids? How soul-killing those schools must be. Certainly
administrators everywhere have greater concerns.

We just learned that in our state alone, 9.2 percent of the seniors
have taken weapons to school, about 20 percent of 10th-graders have
shown up drunk or stoned and nearly 25 percent of the state's eighth-,
10th- and 12th-graders are obese or overweight. Forget about Tigger
and harmless pranks -- American schools should focus on real problems.