Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Bill, Florida on January 2, 2012:

Right on the mark once again, Randy. Thanks to you my personal slogan is,"zero tolerance for Zero Tolerance." The amount of money and resources wasted on this sort of nonsense is truly obscene.

I've seen that one of the reasons for this sort of nonsense are school administrators not supporting teachers when it comes to classroom discipline. The teacher then has to call for assistance and the administrators lacking the cojones to take action call the law or toss the kid out of school. It's time those highly paid do nothings earn their keep.

Posted by Mike from Dallas on January 2, 2012:

One mistake in 44 years? ONE mistake in 44 years??? What, does he mean ONE mistake that he's ever been held to task? So, what, does that mean he's always manage to slide on all the others? And this one was finally too big to just bury?

Let's face it, folks, I am arrogant. I make mistakes so seldom that, far from being embarrassed, I actually enjoy it as a novelty. And I can tell you that I've SURE made more than ONE mistake in 44 years! This guy makes ME look humble, for pity sake.

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Glad someone caught that so quickly. If a week goes by where I don't make a mistake that I actually regret -- made one tonight, in fact! But thankfully not in tonight's issue (that I know of. Yet.) -- I figure I must have mistaken an error for success. -rc

Posted by Bill, Florida on January 2, 2012:

You said it Mike. I've seen teachers with over 20 years experience fired for attempting to maintain order in a classroom due to zero tolerance. This sort of reactionary behavior is why our schools are mediocre.

Posted by Andrew, UK on January 3, 2012:

It's ironic, isn't it, that police are called for burping -- but that rape you reported on a while ago was (in the school's opinion) handled in-house. Madness.

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Yep. That case is linked in the second-to-last paragraph. -rc

Posted by Marjorie, Oregon on January 3, 2012:

I was amused at the story about the student who burped. I had a high school classmate who amused himself by sneezing as loudly as he could. After about the 3rd time, the teacher said something to the effect of "That's enough, John. It's not necessary to sneeze loudly enough to disrupt the class." John was very circumspect from then on when he sneezed, and no one even considered involving the principal. I wonder if a teacher can do that any more?

Posted by Alan, Hoquiam WA on January 3, 2012:

You said it yourself with "When I was a kid, the principal at every school I went to had teeth, and my parents -- after listening to my side -- always (and appropriately) backed him up". I am not saying these examples are right, but I can understand the frustration of teachers and administrators when week after week parents/guardians of disruptive students are called in and do NOTHING.

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Yep, I wanted to acknowledge that not all parents back up the schools, and a lot of kids get away with murder. This is not completely a one-sided issue. -rc

Posted by Alan, Canada on January 3, 2012:

Actually I think that the second story fits right in with the "zero tolerance" stories, and not in a good way. I think there is probably a proper procedure for disciplining a school principal for inappropriate actions, and it should have been followed. I really can't agree with "zero tolerance" for anything... including for "zero tolerance". Reactions to a problem should never be extreme or hasty (if at all possible).

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Well, I'll go with the excuse schools usually use: "We can't discuss prior disciplinary actions for privacy reasons." In other words, I don't believe "One mistake in 44 years." -rc

Posted by Miladyblue, Auburn WA on January 3, 2012:

One nice thing about the followup, finally, Zero Tolerance used as it should be -- Zero Tolerance for Jerry Bostic's stupidity, that is.

Now, if we could just have a Zero Tolerance policy for other Zero Tolerance policy stupidities, I think we could actually accomplish something in our schools, such as education.

Posted by Michael, Branson, MO on January 3, 2012:

I wonder if this way of thinking has evolved into a national psyche? Any psychiatrist/psychologist out there to comment? Just curious.

I was sent to the principal one time in elementary school for bringing toys and that got my attention. We were always afraid of that paddle board with the holes in it (no idea if one existed). I think this is way over the top and he should have known better.

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I first noted that ZT was spreading into the "real world" with this story in 2001. It's not a shock: school kids do eventually grow up and get jobs. -rc

Posted by Gregory, Storrs, CT on January 5, 2012:

I have Asperger's Syndrome, which often causes me to interpret things very literally. Well, when I was in 7th grade, we were taking the New York State Standardized Tests, and we had to write an essay about a passage we were given. This happened to be about a teenage artist named Miguel "Trapping sleeping animals in blocks of wood" and "painting them". Well, to a neurotypical student, it would be quite clear that Miguel was a wood sculptor and painter and that he was not using real animals. Unfortunately, it was not so clear to me. So, I wrote about how Miguel was a violent, sadistic rebel who enjoyed torturing and abusing animals. Well, this got me flagged as "emotionally disturbed" and my parents had to come in to talk to the principal. Fortunately, he knew me pretty well and noted that my over-literal interpretation of the passage was not due to any violent or abusive tendencies that I possessed, but rather was due to my Asperger's Syndrome. If he hadn't been so understanding, who knows what would have happened with "Zero Tolerance"? I'd have been put in some program with kids who really were violent sadists who would kill a little nerdy kid like me given the chance.

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I note that there's no responsibility taken for asking the question in that way. A lot of kids (especially boys) would be inspired to take it the same way you did. That this was not anticipated is a failure of the people who wrote the test, not the kids reacting in that way. -rc