Pubdate: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 Source: Quad-City Times (IA) Copyright: 2001 Quad-City Times Contact: http://www.qctimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/857 Author: Leonard Pitts, Jr Note: Pitts is a columnist for the Miami Herald 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Andrew