Torturing Children to Protect Them From Drugs

[Valley Oak]

https://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy/2010/sep/13/torturing_children_protect_them

Torturing Children to Protect Them From Drugs
by Scott Morgan, September 13, 2010

Some would say there's a certain inherent fairness in "zero tolerance" drug policies that approach every situation with equal levels of panicked overreaction. But as this story shows, zero tolerance is nothing more than a prescription for unfathomable cruelty.

TROPHY CLUB, Texas - Administrators at Byron Nelson High School in Trophy Club suspended a 16-year-old boy on Tuesday because his eyes were bloodshot and they thought he might have been smoking marijuana.

The teen said he was not high. Instead his eyes were red because he had been grieving the loss of his murdered father.

Kyler Robertson’s father was stabbed to death on Sunday. His mother honored his wishes and let him go to school on Tuesday to be with his friends. [MyFoxdw.com [4]]

Wow, that sounds pretty bad, but surely the school officials chilled out once they were made aware of the situation:

Kyler was allowed to return to class after he showed school administrators a copy of his negative test results.

The teen’s mom still wants an apology from administrators and she wants the district to remove the suspension from his permanent record. She is in the process of appealing it.

“We had other things to do this week than worry about a three day window for an appeal, a two hour window for a drug test and my son’s reputation and high school career,” she said.

The marijuana debate is characterized by constant conflict over whether prohibition funds drug cartels, wastes police resources, and rejects potential tax revenue. If only we could somehow measure the totality of cruel and stupid acts carried out independently on a daily basis by self-righteous morons who believe they're helping solve the drug problem by treating innocent people like trash.

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[4] https://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/090910-school-suspends-boy-for-bloodshot-eyes

["Mad" Miles]

Zero Tolerance is a recipe for violence.

It's part of the "tough on crime" movement since the early nineties (i.e. Reagan Revolution) and lots of inflexible, draconian policies and rules were put in place all over the land. They're still school admin SOP.

The theory/claim that some adolescents, and younger children, are "predators" resulted in a lock'em'up and throw away the key mentality. Three strikes is a result of this idiocy. All the stats and studies show that the "predator child" theory is bunk. But we still have these strict rules put in place to address the pseudo-problem. Note correctional demographics in relation to crime stats.

And it makes it easy for administrators. Inflexibility, "I'm just administering the rules." We're fair and just because no exceptions will be made and the law, procedures, apply to all equally. It's so simple, so very simple, even a child can do it. But mostly it's done to children, although the culture of surveilance and zero tolerance enforcement does work to create a cut-throat police state culture in the schools, is that inadvertent or intentional?

Zero Tolerance is a recipe for lazy thinking, avoiding having to actually investigate the reasons behind disruptive student behavior. (Obviously not in this particular case, disruptive behavior that is, but Texas is Texas. As a technical Texan, I'm not shocked, but I am once again appalled and disappointed. As a school teacher I'm outraged.)

If we had to look at the causes, and were able to understand them (which we are) we might have to address the sources of student misbehavior, when it actually happens. That costs money, we don't want to spend it, we'd rather spend it on standardized tests to create metrics which will allow districts and above to kick teacher ass by blaming poor student academic performance on teacher ability and performance, rather than the much more intractable social causes such as poverty, parental neglect, trauma and inability, or unwillingness in perhaps a few cases, to support their kids. It isn't a level playing field, but we'll pretend it is and blame teachers and their unions for the results.

Yeah, that's a long sentence. This is a complex and knotty issue. Let's not think about it. Let's just administer strict limits to student conduct, ask no questions and let the chips fall where they may.

Who cares if litigation results in massive fines and further expense? Maybe that will happen? Maybe it won't! Most parents in schools where these rules are rigidly applied are too poor, and too busy scrabbling by, to pay a lawyer to create a problem for the district. It's a gamble, and the cops are winning.

Hey, Public Education is an obvious failure, haven't you read the news? Let's just dump it for Charters!

Goddamn Fucking Socialists!!! One more crime to place at their door! When will they ever learn!

Oh wait, they went to public schools. Duh!? It goes to show you ....