Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Fred, San Francisco on October 12, 2009:

I'd love to see you debate the law professor (Ewing) who defends ZT because "only law enforcement" can make threat assessments. About silverware.

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I'm not positive I'd be able to keep my cool around anyone seriously purporting that children should continue to be abused and terrorized in this way. -rc

Posted by Bob Pittsburgh, PA on October 12, 2009:

Darn shame there is no ZT for school administrators and teachers. Show a lack of common sense one time and its 45 days in the slammer.

Posted by John - Yerevan, Armenia on October 12, 2009:

Why is it so difficult to understand that children are each unique in their own way. There can be no cover-it-all law that governs children. Each transgression must be considered on a case by case basis.

As for the "professor" I have three questions:
1. Did he find his law degree in a fortune cookie?
2. Does he have any children? and if so:
3. Does he spend ANY time with them?

Posted by David, Pacifica, CA on October 12, 2009:

The only thing that will get the attention of school boards and principals is money and funding.

Perhaps, a national boycott of schools day should be organized. The resulting loss of funds due to absent students would certainly get their attention.

I am sure there are plenty of doctors out there who would write the sick notes.

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Some schools don't accept doctor's notes. Yeah, really! School administrators know health better than doctors -- or, at least, that's what their district policies say. Yeah. Really. Seriously. -rc

Posted by Judith MacCardle, Glendale AZ on October 12, 2009:

All I can say is "Thank you!" I have been questioned and looked upon as less of a mother because of my opposition of ZT policies. I have a son with bipolar disorder and am scared that ZT policies could potentially ruin his life if he cycles while at school. I have been threatened with it by school administration, but I'm also my son's biggest advocate and have been able to avoid ZT discipline so far. I just want to give you a sincere thank you for getting these stories out there!!!

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You're welcome. For your son, you need to study your state's and school district's laws and policies regarding disabled students. The people that should be getting threats are the school administrators, based on your knowledge of what's required of them. -rc

Posted by Mike (Scout Leader) -Holland, MI on October 12, 2009:

I am a Cub Scout Leader. Before a Cub scout may possess and use a knife. He must show he is responsible in its use. We have specific strict guidelines they must follow. Once they complete the training they are given a whittling' chip (a card). If they show any lack of judgment in its use they have a corner cut from the card. If they lose all four corners then they lose the card and the privilege of using a knife.

Now this youngster (a scout) brings eating utensils (an approved Scout tool) to school and is suspended because it has a blunt "knife". It seems they are undermining the lessons being taught by a great organization. Punishing the young man for doing nothing wrong.

Now I'm guessing that if they were to search the desks of every teacher and every desk in the office, they will find numerous pairs of scissors. These are by far more dangerous than the utensils this young man took to school. Expell or suspend the school staff!

Posted by homeschooling mom, TX on October 13, 2009:

The mom should just continue to homeschool. There is a reason why many parents are homeschooling, and it is having less to do with raw academics and more to do with the concept that the state owns our children. We have mandatory attendance laws, and yet acceptable punishment is to deny them education. We have to ask permission to take a vacation during the school year, and heaven forbid that time off should happen to coincide with the state's mandated testing that completely overrides the grades the students have earned. Why do we have state mandated testing? Because we cannot guarantee that the grades the students have earned truly reflect their academic achievement. What does that say about the state's faith in the very teachers that they certify???? And they want to tell me that a teacher who majored in education with a math emphasis is more qualified than a math major? I am so over the organized disaster of public education.

Posted by Stephen, Birmingham (England) on October 13, 2009:

Yay for the NYT finally getting involved, no doubt it will help some.

What I think would help a whole lot is if everyone who reads these ZT stories were to sit down and write to their elected representatives about how they feel then share this story with their friends (as in sending the link to this page) and suggesting they write.

I write to one or more of my elected representatives a couple of times a year. I've found that a clear, polite but firm expression of concerns can have good effect. The more people who write and the more frequently the issue comes up the more likely it is that something will be done about it.

You don't even always have to make it a letter complaining each time. The occasional letter, if you don't have ZT in your area, saying something like "Did you hear about that cub scout in Delaware who got suspended for bringing cutlery to school? Wow, I'm glad we don't have dumb ZT laws like that here." may encourage a local politician to not introduce them in the future. Plus it might make them listen to you more intently when you do write in complaint as you've shown you're not just some whiner with nothing better to do than complain all the time.

Posted by Christine, Ohio on October 13, 2009:

We had an incident of ZT this weekend at our homecoming. Long story short: a 14 year old was kicked out of the dance because he was helping a kid up that fell while dancing. Admin asked no questions, just grabbed arms, and showed them the door. If this boy were a girl, he would be called a wallflower. He is very shy, small for his age (5'2), and one of the most polite kids I have ever met.

14: can't drive, no phone call to parents, kid left wandering around outside of school (no coat because he was supposed to be inside all evening) for 2 hours till his ride home from the dance arrived at the end of the night.

I'm pissed and disgusted and he isn't even my kid.

Some of these educators are just plain nuts.

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That kid needs rational adults to stand up for him. Not just his own parents, but you and everyone who is also disgusted. You need to appear en masse and make it clear that throwing the kid out into the cold is outrageous even if he did do something wrong, and it's a double outrage since he didn't. YOU need to stand up for other kids so that others will stand up for yours when it's their time. Because with "thinking" like this, it will be their time sooner than you think. This must be stopped. You are in a position to stop it. -rc

Posted by Tony, Fredericton, NB, Canada on October 13, 2009:

In Michael Moore's new movie there is a segment about farming juvenile detention facilities out to private enterprise. As a capitalist enterprise, of course, profits increase as the number of incarcerates and length of incarceration increases, so the motivation is to find trumped up charges to get more children behind bars.

In the movie, there was a judge who was collecting kickbacks from the corporation for sending children with ridiculously minor offenses to the prison. One has to wonder whether reform school sentences for ZT offenses might be similarly motivated.

Democracy is a powerful tool. You should make better use of it.