Zero Tolerance

There is nothing more important than keeping our kids safe, happy and learning at school. In the USA and other countries such as Germany and Russia, we have seen the horror of violence in schools. And in all schools, in all countries, students, teachers, families and police, tackle the seemingly endless problems of bullying and cyberbullling, of drugs, gangs and poverty. But what happens when Zero Tolerance Policies, that were originally well meaning and for very serious issues only, were pushed into the arena of daily school discipline by over- zealous policy makers and administrators? Thousands of children across the USA, some as young as five years old, were swept into the juvenile and criminal justice systems for "crimes" such as doodling on a desk, having to stay home to look after a sick parent or running in the hallway. In addition, School Resource Officers found themselves in a difficult position as they were often pressured into enforcing these new rules, and many teachers effectively lost authority of their classrooms. There is now a move by the Obama administration to reverse or soften these Zero Tolerance policies, but not everyone is in agreement.