Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Lucy, Texas on November 14, 2008:

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.

Capital idea. And once we have fired all the ninnies and political cranks, I would be more than happy to recertify and go back to teaching again.

Posted by Ann, Hanson, MA on November 14, 2008:

I have zero tolerance for zero tolerance. All it really means is zero common sense will be used. The lunatics are running the asylum!

Posted by Don in Nawlins on November 14, 2008:

I think what they need to investigate is whether this Pevey dame has some sort of "gang" fixation. Maybe she or her family had a run-in with gangs, or she thinks "gang talk" among the students is somehow noteworthy and ominous. Is it possible that she is (horrors!) "profiling" her students??

Posted by Stan, Andover, KS on November 14, 2008:

Instead of giving the student an evaluation, why didn't someone give the teacher and assistant principal an evaluation.

Posted by Ed on November 14, 2008:

If Miss Pevey was subjected to the same kind of review I bet she wouldn't make it through a day without violating some tenet of this disturbingly inane, k-12 doctrine her and her mad hatter ilk call zero tolerance.

Posted by Tom Englewood, CO on November 15, 2008:

ZT has gone way beyond common sense Both the teacher (Melissa Pevey) & the assistant principal should be fired!

Posted by Jay - NY 12122 on November 15, 2008:

This action is on the same idiot level with suspending a young child for having a drawn picture of a gun. Seems that sooner or later parents are going to wake up and revolt and change this culture of intimidation that is so prevalent in our society today. Let us just hope that it isn't to late to do something about this lunacy that is going on around the country.

Personally I believe most people want the government or agency (school) to take control so they don't have to look like the bad guy in their childrens' eyes.

Posted by Jorn, Newark DE on November 15, 2008:

I hope the art teacher gives the boy extra credit -- the assignment was to draw a scary picture, and his was so scary his homeroom teacher felt the need to call the authorities.

The really devastating thing about this sort of thing is how those affected, even those who are exonerated like this boy was, are changed by the experience. Yes, he was "allowed" to return to school, but he had to pass a psychological evaluation first. And the next time he's assigned a create project, does anyone think he'll actually try to be creative? Or will he just do something he knows will be safe, so he doesn't have to go through that again?

Zero Tolerance = Zero Thought because that's how it works, but also because that seems to be the long term goal -- the stifling of independent and creative thought.

Posted by James, U.K. on November 15, 2008:

You can't really blame Melissa Pevey, who is probably a decent human being has had her values corrupted by an almighty "politically-correct" establishment to the point where she can no longer perceive the obvious. It is the people who brainwashed her until she was crazy and unkind who should be the ones to take the fall. But the time is, coming, the pendulum will swing and they will see themselves as the idiots they really are.

Posted by steve - Evansville, IN on November 15, 2008:

It seems to me that the school staff should be the ones sent to the shrink and tested before they are returned to school. I also have a formula they can use:

Tolerence = Intelligence

After looking at the picture I think I could be sent to prison for some of the pictures I've drawn.