There's zero logic in zero tolerance schools

Zero tolerance. More aptly titled “zero logic.”

School teachers, school boards and school administrations take this literally. Let’s put this in perspective. The very premise of a teacher is to educate, to create in their students a thirst for knowledge and urge them to come to conclusions based on research and logic. My father has often stated that “if something doesn’t sound or appear logical, it probably isn’t.”

How is it even remotely possible that an entire profession, that being teachers, can administer blanket judgment on students who by word, action or appearance are not what their supposed teachers deem politically correct. Who has made the teaching profession judge and jury over violation of this imposed “political correctness”?

A case in point right here in Montana is that of a 16-year-old girl’s inadvertent violation of the “zero tolerance firearms rule.” She had been hunting with her parents the day before and had forgotten her unloaded hunting rifle in the trunk of her car. After classes had begun she remembered the rifle in her trunk and went to the school’s front office to tell them about it, asking that she be allowed to go home, leave the rifle there and then return to school.

The police were called and she was detained in the school office and subsequently suspended after being told she was facing expulsion. Are there words for this? Maybe idiocy, intolerance, lack of rationale, lack of reason, complete lack of judgement and fairness? The direct opposite of everything a teacher should be imparting to his or her students.

How can a student equate this to anything and everything that should govern their daily lives and interaction with their peers or strangers. If their teachers sit in pre-judgement without either hearing or understanding the facts of each individual situation, how is the student then expected to apply reason and justice to their own interactions with those around them? Pure, plain and simple, it’s a double standard.

Should students come to accept double standards as an expected part of their character? If their teachers show no logic or rationale in their reactions to what they consider an infraction, how then is the student expected to use logic and reason in solving their day-to-day problems and decisions?

The personal values and beliefs of teachers should have no part in the education of children. Values are taught at home, by parents, not by teachers. Beliefs — be they religious, political or lifestyle — have no place in education other than those taught by the parents. The fact that there are parents who do not take it upon themselves to teach their children these values and moral character does not create a mandate for teachers to assume that role for all students.

Zero Tolerance is simply a code created to avoid dealing with each incident based on its own merits. There is no justice or logic in zero tolerance. It’s a fast track for suspension or expulsion to “teach them all a lesson” and is completely devoid of any thought process at all.

The incident here in Montana is a classic example of teachers’ inability or reluctance to administer a decision based on the facts of the ocurrence. This 16-year-old girl’s concern for the rules of her principal caused her to think logically, go to the front office and explain her mistake. Did the principal react with the same good faith and logic shown by his student?

Absolutely not. The student showed far more maturity and concern than the pricipal, teachers and school board put together.

Where firearms are concerned, the entire school system in the United States is currently in an illogical mindset. Should there be firearms on school premises? Absolutely not, but young adults are human, subject to forgetfulness and unitentional mistakes. Do teachers hold themselves to the same strict codes? No. Often when far more serious errors in judgment involve a teacher, they are prone to quickly forgive each other, even when the actions are morally wrong. All teachers? Of course not.

They judge among themselves each action or error based on the individual facts of the incident. Does their Zero Tolerance rule afford the student the same process and lattitude? Absolutely not.The simple words “zero tolerance” tells students what they can expect of those who are supposed to teach fair play, tolerance and reason! The understanding and reasoning we can expect from our teachers is, in fact, zero.

I now have children. I intend to teach them the core values that my wife and I  have. Whether or not they coincide with those of the teaching establishment would mean nothing to me whatsoever. Knowing what I now know about school administrations, I would hope that they would learn to approach life and their dealings with others in far different ways than those shown by our current type of teacher.

Zero Tolerance is an extremely disappointing fact of school administration and it is alarming to see it practiced in full force by those entrusted with our children. I’m ashamed that this even exists in a free country that is grounded in the Constitution and justice.

St.Marie, of Kalispell, was born and raised in Lost Prairie. He attended the one-room schoolhouse in Pleasant Valley, then went on to Hedges Elementary and Kalispell Junior High.