Zero tolerance is a power grab by the central government to get teachers used to not using their own judgement and instead submitting to a central authority automatically.
Going a step further, we really don't have to anticipate these school board nazis and their running dog lackeys to march down the streets and take over everything ~ they aren't smart enough for one thing, and we have a plentitude of things we can do to put an end to that march!
(No discussion needed).
So, what is it that's going on where you have a school administrator thinking a cigarette lighter is AN EXPLOSIVE DEVICE?
What that has to do with is the fact they took his away and wouldn't let him carry it on an airplane. He doesn't know, and probably wouldn't understand anyway, but there are TWO different transportation hazardous material standards in this country. One is for SURFACE and one is for AIR.
Even there some things that would otherwise be prohibited from air transport could have a "permissible quantity" so you always have to check the NTSB standards to see what that might be.
There are also security restrictions, so even though your basic box cutter isn't likely to blow up we do have a history of problems (911 springs to mind) with them so their carriage by passengers on their persons is restricted.
The school administrators are acting on POPULAR BELIEF, not federal standards, and when it comes to the determination of what is or is not dangerous for transport or storage under various conditions you need to refer to the appropriate federal standards.
(NOTE: Constitution says ".... weights and measures...." are a federal deal ~ and certainly the determination of "permissible quantities" of otherwise dangerous materials falls under the "measures" clause ~ if you want to argue that out, do it some other time in a different place ~ we have a point to make here).
So, we have some local school administration telling students that they are subject to maximum punishment because, lo and behold, they are hauling around a very dangerous EXPLOSIVE, to wit, a cigarette lighter.
Well, it's only determined to be "explosive" on airplanes, and that school is not an airplane. If it's in a crate or something it can be restricted from carriage in the mails (I know that one well) on surface transportation ~ so you wanna' see Fed Ex or UPS to have a crate of them hauled somewhere, and even there, some shipments could exceed their standards (based on the federal standards BTW), and you might be redirected to a hazmat carrier ~ where you will pay a bundle and a half!
Yes, yes, yes, hauling around a load of cigarette lighters could be risky so you pay for the risk. Hauling around one cigarette lighter in a school is NOT defined as a hazmat situation in the only pertinent regulations ~ to wit, those issued by the federal government.
So who are these school twits dictating local changes to federal standards regarding hazmat?
I say they are IDIOTS ~ and Eric Holder should be down their beating them into the ground.