Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by David, Sevenoaks UK on July 19, 2008:

Having removed her clothes surely the school officials should have ensured that the girl was prosecuted for indecent exposure? If we are to have zero tolerance let us at least be consistent and apply it to everything.

If it were my daughter I would probably be serving a sentence for murder or GBH.

Posted by Patty, San Antonio on July 19, 2008:

"they believe that the individuals named in the suit (the vice principal, his assistant, and the school nurse) are entitled to a qualified immunity from liability, essentially because the law wasn't clear enough for them to understand."

WHAT??? It's their jobs to know and understand the laws pertinent to their work; if they don't "get it" they need to figure it out with the help of their school district's attorneys before they go trying to enforce it.

Posted by Elizabeth, N.J. on July 19, 2008:

What was done to that child was sexual assault, plain and simple. They ran with a 'tip' and took it to the most extreme and I bet dollars to donuts they were looking at her and not for the damned pills. She will be forever scarred by this and the two who did it will never really get punished for it. ZT has become a way for pervs to use the current national mood to their advantage and of course, no one is really looking out for the kids in all this, now are they?

All they want is to be politically correct, the rights and safety of the little ones be damned.

Posted by Marcy, Michigan on July 19, 2008:

Sara in LA and others who have questioned why you would ever send your child to a public school--

Please don't lump all public institutions together. As a public school teacher, I am equally disturbed and offended about what has happened here, as I am often when Randy runs a ZT story. As someone who works in a public school every day, and has the common sense to know that these policies are ridiculous, I take offense to being lumped in with these people.

You should choose your child's school carefully depending on their policies, not just assume that the local public school has poor policies like this, or pre-emptively threaten to sue them. Frequently, parents see school as daycare, and don't pause to think about anything beyond that. I am amazed at the lack of thought that some parents put into choosing where their child will spend 8 hours a day sometimes. Those parents who are truly involved and concerned not only look into the school's test scores and graduation rates, but the details of their discipline and reward policies. Get to know the people who spend every day with your child. Please don't assume. For all you know, the private school you spend money on may also have ZT policies you disagree with. After you've done the research, send your child to the school that fits your family's beliefs the best. If you disagree with the policies, get involved to change them. I will tell you that in Michigan, we have schools of choice, and parent complaints and threats to put their children in a different school are a very effective means to get administrators to change things, because they don't want to lose the money that goes with the child.

Posted by Guairdean in Texas on July 19, 2008:

With luck, those involved in the search will be charged as sex offenders. Seeing their fellow "educators" (and I use the term loosely) listed as sex offenders will serve as a wakeup call. They need to understand that their power is limited and that there are consequences when they abuse that power.

Posted by Deb, Pennsylvania on July 19, 2008:

Why is this not considered sexual abuse? If this had been my 13 yo daughter, I would have filed a complaint with the police for sexual abuse.

Posted by Karen, Winston, GA on July 19, 2008:

This story and all the comments posted about it are among the top reasons I chose to home school my children. My son has asthma, and we went through the same ordeal about his inhaler that many others have mentioned. His asthma was severe -- he could not wait until his inhaler could be found and brought to him. Thankfully all his school required was a letter from his doctor.

He had other health issues over the years requiring medication and absences from school which brought up another issue: absences were unexcused unless they had a doctor's excuse, period. Nothing else was considered excused. I was supposed to take my children to the doctor for every little thing that kept them home, or it was unexcused. I finally asked the principal who was going to pay for the unnecessary doctor visits, only to get a blank stare, no answer. The pediatrician's office -- and common sense -- tells you to wait and see what happens when a child vomits or has a slight fever -- reasons not to go to school, but often not a reason to head to the doctor's office immediately.

Common sense has all but disappeared from public school. It does not cost much at all to home school, and there are all kinds of groups that offer help to home schooling parents. If public school is not an option and private school is too expensive, it is worth checking into. My son graduated last year, and took the GED just to have it, even though it is not necessary and his scores were extremely high. Out of 800, he scored 799 in math, and almost as high (790's) in all other categories. Not bad, considering 420 out of 800 is passing.

Posted by Mac, Michicag on July 19, 2008:

If I had been strip searched in school my parents would have been terribly upset with me if I did not physically resist.
Being forced to disrobe, pray to heathen gods and avow things I did not believe were understood to merit resistance to the point of physical violence. I was also taught how to resist -- to the point that anytime after I was about eleven years old you'd risk lasting disfigurement or disability to lay your grubby little hands on me. It's called self defense and is still a reasonable response to assault.

Posted by John, Allentown, PA on July 19, 2008:

Perhaps I'm missing something, but it seems to me there's another option here that everyone's missing.

Complain to the school board, and if that doesn't work, VOTE THE BUMS OUT. Even better, run for school board yourself.

To a certain extent, we're getting what we deserve through our own inattention to what our elected officials are doing.

Posted by Jenna, Michigan on July 19, 2008:

I went to Catholic school for 8 years and believe me, they are not immune to ZT and overall stupidity. They also are not immune to mistreating children.

We had nuns who would grab children by the shoulders and slam them against a wall for making noise in the hallway. Also, I had severe excema and despite several doctors notes to the teacher saying it was genetic and not contagious, one teacher told the other children to stay away from me so as not to catch it.

I also had a teacher take me into the boiler room to strip search me because (as was explained much later) they suspected that the discoloration of my skin (caused by my skin disease) might be bruising due to child abuse.