Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Lisa, Penfield, NY on November 15, 2008:

It's a shame that we have to teach our kids to be careful around the stupid people who make up zero tolerance. It's a shame they put that little boy through all of that psych junk, which is going to make him believe there is something wrong with him, and might lead him down the road of future inappropriate behavior.

Posted by Tim, California on November 15, 2008:

Perhaps if schools, districts, administrators or teachers who promulgate this nonsense are hit with hefty lawsuits for traumatizing children or criminal charges or both, they might see the light. A few heads rolling might be enough of an example to warn the others off. The Roman practice of decimation (putting every tenth man to death) comes to mind.

Posted by Kurt, Bangkok on November 15, 2008:

I've got to quit trolling various odd news columns for this kind of garbage because you manage to come up with the best stories.

Way back when, I used to be a patrol officer, both as a cop and a patrol security officer. Thank every god there is I had the freedom to exercise a little common sense. Otherwise, I would have been working 365/24/7 writing reports on the people I had had to arrest!

Posted by Vicky,Texas on November 15, 2008:

Okay, in fairness to Ms. Pevey that really doesn't look like a vampire. No fangs. And the "I kill for blood" a bit creepy because it's so blunt for a 10 year old. But gang related? She has a better imagination than the children she's supposed to teach. I think they sent the wrong person for evaluation.

Posted by Michael, Oklahoma City on November 15, 2008:

Not to be in defense of idiots, but perhaps no one has established clear guidelines for ZT within the educational systems. If this were done, perhaps we would have less of these ignorant decisions by school officials.

Posted by mike, dripping springs, tx on November 15, 2008:

In our experience with schools, Zero Tolerance is always a class/wealth status dispersion system. Not at all a fair application of the rules. I wonder what would have happened if the student were a teacher's child, a sport booster parent's child, etc?

Posted by Ray, Colorado on November 15, 2008:

From painful personal experience, I can tell you that the problem with people like the home-room teacher is that "perception is reality," to quote a local middle-school teacher. If somebody (a teacher, a parent, an administrator, a student, or even the neighborhood busybody) reports that something is fishy, then everybody automatically assumes that it is. I've seen more than one teaching career ruined because a student or a parent chose to take a teacher's words (or actions) the wrong way. I've also seen students caught on the wrong end of a false accusation, as in this story. The results are devastating, and yet the accuser -- the person whose perception/reality ruined someone else's life -- receives no punishment, but instead sympathy (if a perceived victim) or praise for their diligence.

Posted by joe, ohio on November 15, 2008:

The only problem a lawsuit solves is how to send some lawyer's yuppie larva to Harvard to breed another generation of lawyers.

Greedy parent sues school-idiot judge awards huge payout-bill goes to taxpayer (me; why am I being punished?)-law firm collects 100% of payout for unnamed "legal expenses"-teacher may or may not be disciplined-if diciplined the teachers union sues the school-idiot judge...

Ah, yes, the Circle of Life.

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Yes, the taxpayer is on the hook. Now you know why you need to say something when this stuff happens at your schools, whether your kid is affected or not! -rc

Posted by Howie, Tustin, Ca. on November 15, 2008:

Stupidity in action! I suggest all those who wanted this child examined immediately contact their proctologist to have their heads examined!

Posted by Pete, Toms River, NJ on November 15, 2008:

NJ has a hold harmless clause for teachers who follow the rules. It is up to the administrator to use good judgement. Depending on the prior behavior of the student, and if I was not aware that it was part of an art project, I might have filed a report also. As a teacher, I am caught between reporting something innocent, and not reporting something that escalates to violence. In the second case, I would be liable. Give the teacher a break, but the administration has a responsibility to investigate and used better judgement. That's why they get paid the big bucks.