Upstate mom: Special needs son suspended for drawing bomb

wyff4.com

4 points·wolfgke··3 comments

One of the most immediate (and probably least expensive) improvements we could make to our public school system would be to replace the zero-tolerance policy with adults who are capable of examining situations on a case-by-case basis and applying an appropriate mix of discipline and direction.

Of course, as long as I'm planning utopia here, maybe we could properly fund public schools, wash out teachers and administrators that have no business dealing with kids, improve teacher education, expect students to clean their lunchroom and classrooms as a matter of course so they learn shared responsibility, reduce the influence of parents over grading and discipline, etc. But if anything we're going backwards.

> adults who are capable of examining situations on a case-by-case basis and applying an appropriate mix of discipline and direction.

Everything seems inexpensive or easy when you don't consider the details. Finding an adult with those qualities is uncommon, rare even. Besides, how would someone without those qualities hire someone with those qualities? Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. They would need to hire a consultant or professional arbitrator of some sort with those qualities to start the process.

That extreme standard used to be part and parcel of being a parent. Not that I'm saying anybody can pull it off flawlessly, but zero-tolerance is simply a way of saying they won't even make the effort.

The relationship between offenses and consequences is a major part of the learning process. And education itself isn't something to be yanked away from a kid because of a drawing. What's being taught here?

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