Pubdate: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 Source: Daily Home, The (Talladega, AL) Copyright: 2003 Consolidated Publishing Contact: http://www.dailyhome.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1632 Note: also listed as contact Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 ( Students - United States) TIME TO END ZERO TOLERANCE POLICIES IS RIGHT NOW It's happened again. This time in Alabama. A school system has taken unreasonably drastic measures against a student for a seemingly minor offense. A Clay-Chalkville High School student was suspended for a month and sent to an alternative school. Her infraction? Taking ibuprofen - an over-the-counter painkiller similar to aspirin - for cramps. And that's just ridiculous. Other than this black mark, the girl has a clean disciplinary record and good grades. She said she was too embarrassed to ask her male teacher for permission to visit the main office to take the medicine. While that was a reasonable excuse, the response from the Jefferson County School System was not. But that's the way of the zero-tolerance world now. System officials said their hands are tied by the rules, which prohibit students from possessing any prescription or over-the-counter medication. So, instead of maybe a simple verbal reprimand for breaking what is largely an inane rule, this bright, well-behaved student gets kicked out for a month and sent to an alternative school. Again and again, we see school officials handing out such heavy-handed discipline for the least infractions - treating students who take aspirin as if they were caught smoking crack. And every time, they stand back and point to the rule book and say they have no choice in the matter. Aside from possibly violating students' rights to due process and protection from cruel and unusual punishment, the zero-tolerance policies in place in Alabama and across the nation have stripped all responsibility from the very people who are paid to shoulder exactly that duty. School administrators and teachers must be reimpowered to use common sense with regard to disciplinary issues. It's the only fair thing to do for our students and our schools. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin