These days, for all too many, the spirt of the law is the letter of the law, if you get my meaning.
When my son was in middle school kids were stabbed with pencils in the hallway. These rules leave no room for the application of common sense. But considering that many school administrators don’t have any common sense the kids suffer from a forced reliance on one-size-fits all zero tolerance. Public education is not about the kids, and certainly not about education in many cases. They just love the power of enforcement!!