Posted on 09/22/2002 10:26:03 AM PDT by Issaquahking
Zero tolerance is the hammer that makes violence prevention programs effective, said Elliott Phelps, chief of school police for the Clark County School District.
"If you don't have the hammer, your prevention programs are taken with a grain of salt," Phelps said. "There has to be both prevention and consequence, and there has to be a balance between the two."
Like most education officials across the nation, Clark County school leaders have struggled to find that balance. In one extreme, students who pose a potential threat to others by carrying or concealing weapons while on school property face immediate expulsion and arrest. Zero tolerance in action.
On the other end of the spectrum, students who express violent ideas in English compositions or engage in playground pushing or shoving can face the same consequence. Again, zero tolerance in action.
The system is out of kilter when offenses both great and small are treated the same way, said Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for Nevada's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Lichtenstein said his office receives numerous complaints from families subjected to the district's zero-tolerance discipline practices. Those practices sometimes resulted in absurd outcomes for minor cases, Lichtenstein said.
One example: a 7-year-old student at Hayes Elementary School who last year was asked to sign a document citing Nevada law that he clearly didn't understand. The parent didn't object to the discipline his child received for cutting the hair of another student.
The problem was a school administrator making the child sign the paper, which read: "As the duly appointed representative of the owner of all school district property, I hereby warn you that should you come on this property prior to the parent conference without the express prior permission of the principal, you will be trespassing upon this property as defined by the Nevada Revised Statute 207.200 and will be subject to arrest for a misdemeanor."
"The particular problem most people have is that the policy isn't there to ensure safety," Lichtenstein said. "It's an attempt to immunize the administration from using their own judgment. The district doesn't want any liability."
Northwest Region Superintendent Leonard Paul disagrees. Judgment plays a part in discipline cases, and administrators receive a great deal of training in how to cope with student discipline issues.
"With some of it, you have to use common sense to determine if it's actually a zero-tolerance issue," Paul said. "This is a people issue. And when you're dealing with people, there are just so many variables."
Paul said the district makes every effort to inform students and parents of the rules upfront. Most classrooms have a posted list of items that students can't have on school property. The information is sent home to parents in newsletters. There is no reason for not knowing the rules, Paul said.
Phelps said the zero-tolerance stand taken by most districts will be scrutinized as long as school safety remains a high profile issue for the public. Phelps views the arrest of juveniles as an absolute last resort, but he also pointed out that zero tolerance is one means of making school life a real world experience.
"If you make threats to others in the workplace or commit sexual harassment, you'd be fired," Phelps said. "You could make the argument that zero tolerance in schools prepares students for the adult world."
This is at the root of more problems in American society than any other cause: liability. An unholy triune of work-hungry lawyers (and far too many of them in society overall), activist judges (who generate legislation out of thin air) and state/federal legislators (most of them lawyers who pander to state/federal trial lawyers associations) have created a legal environment in which common sense has no place, and anyone can be held liable for the actions of anyone else.
The noxious brew of laws and precedents that sustain this unhealthy legal climate costs Americans billions of dollars every year, raises the cost of every product and service, has eliminated entire industries, and is in the process of eliminating many more. Insurance rates have reached unprecedented levels, and some types of insurance can no longer be purchased at any price.
And, as in this case, local government officials are scrambling to cover their butts, fearing personal liability lawsuits for what they do, or don't do, in the course of their jobs. This phenomenon has also caused a displacement of professional specialists away from the jobs that need them most, with less-qualified (but more politically savvy) individuals taking their places, bringing with them policies like "zero tolerance" and other mechanisms designed to insulate the public from professional discretion (which is subject to prosecution under current liability statutes and precedents).
This insidious problem is getting worse, not better, and fixing it is going to take a conscious effort on the part of nearly everyone in America, not just a few lone voices in the wilderness.
Spread the word.
Going to get a chance to come out for the Klamath convoy heading to Florida to help the Sawgrass Rebelliion? Come on out!
Thanks for the praise, I love flattery. :^)
As for the Sawgrass Rebellion, I won't be there for that, but I agree with the cause. I know all too well what it's like to live in a state that's almost entirely owned by the government. The finest land in my state, the extensive pinion and juniper forests of the Nevada interior, are owned almost exclusively by the federal government -- and paid for out of my taxes, to boot. Grrr!
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