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Randy Cassingham's BlogHistorical Details and Author's Notes from This is True®
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Zero Tolerance Trick, No Treat
Zero Tolerance is insidious. An abdication of common sense and professional ethics, in schools it seeks to apply one punishment -- suspension, usually leading to expulsion -- to any level of "crime".
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In this particular case, it didn't help that a fifth-grader's "scary" Halloween image was a school assignment. It didn't help that his art teacher helped him create the image. Where Zero Tolerance reigns, common sense is forgotten.
But let's get specific, with this story from True's 9 November 2008 issue:
Zero Tolerance Trick, No Treat
An art class at Pooler Elementary School in Savannah, Ga., was assigned to draw a "scary" Halloween mask. Fifth- grader Jordan Hood drew a bloody vampire with the caption, "I Kill For Blood". Art teacher Lloyd Harold even helped him, showing how shading the figure's eyes makes it even creepier. But when Melissa Pevey, the boy's home-room teacher, saw the drawing, she found it "disturbing" and called in the assistant principal -- and a school police officer. Pevey claimed the caption "could" be a reference to the street gang "The Bloods", and the drops of blood "looked a lot like" gang tattoos. "They told me the droplets could actually be a gang symbol for the number of people he killed," said Jordan's mother, LaKisha Hood. While the campus cop "wasn't sure [the drawing] meant anything," said district spokesman Bucky Burnsed, Jordan was required to pass a psychological evaluation before he could return to class. He passed, and "the child is back in school where he belongs," Burnsed said. (Savannah Morning News) ...Yeah, but so is Pevey, and she definitely doesn't belong there.
The so-called "disturbing" image is pretty much what most 10-year-old boys would draw when told to do something "scary", as the school's art teacher knew. And here it is:
Kudos to the police who understood that the drawing didn't "mean anything" -- because it doesn't. And indeed, clearly the professional that did the "psychological evaluation" agreed too. You can argue that the teacher was "being careful", but common sense should have kicked in when the police found no concern. The presumably better-educated assistant principal could have stopped the trauma to the boy, but didn't (so why is he or she there?!)
Other parents should rally to support LaKisha Hood, and demand common sense from the "professionals" responsible for educating their children. If school officials refuse to practice better judgment, they need to be fired. Simple as that.
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Most Recent Comments
Posted by Neil, UK on November 25, 2008:
Randy, you call ZT enforcers "idiocrats", which set me thinking. I believe that that word combines the Greek for "private" and "ruler", and thus would denote the idea that the people should be left alone by the authorities - exactly the opposite of what they were doing in this case.
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The Latin idiota is from the Greek idites -- yes, a "private person". But it also means "layman, a person lacking skill or expertise" and is the root for "idiot". Thus, "idiot bureaucrat" -- which is exactly what I'm conveying. -rc
Posted by Bill, St. Louis on November 30, 2008:
St. Louis has got a wonderfully ironic case of ZT that just concluded in the courts. A school principal was fired for trying to use his experience and better judgment in case involving sex abuse. The state law has no tolerance for people who don't immediately report any such allegations. And since the principal had unanswered questions about the allegations, he hesitated before making a report. In doing so he became a lawbreaker.
It is a sad, sad story about a system gone haywire. While our schools are frequently the instigator of ZT, the irony of this case is that a school principal tried to use his head and got beat down for it. No wonder our schools are so messed up.
For those who wish more details (and have the stomach for such news), the details of the story can be found in the Post Dispatch story. One of the lines from the story is "Prosecutors say the details of the alleged abuse and whether the computer instructor truly assaulted the student is immaterial". Truth is irrelevant. You must blindly follow the law or you will face punishment.
God help us all.
Posted by Brandon from South Carolina on March 19, 2009:
The elementary school in St. Louis described by Bill, who hails from there, reminds me of my high-school, where there actually is a problem. At least once every year, my old gym teacher is accused of inappropriately touching one of his female students through her clothes. These accusations have been taken to the principal, but the principal's never reported them, even though they've been made repeatedly by multiple people. Oh, and, by the way, everyone at that school is required to take gym as a FRESHMAN. These are 14-15 year old girls. Now, some of the girls who made the accusations were dishonest or mischievous people and MAY have lied about it. But others of them would never have made it up.
I agree with the principal in St. Louis's decision not to report the accusations he received, because it was one girl who had already made a false accusation, and he didn't want to risk a teacher's career over a lying little girl. But the situation at my alma mater is ridiculous. Saying it should be phoned in would be a far cry from ZT...